Very Stable a-Si:H Prepared by “Chemical Annealing”

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Abstract
Chemical reactions in the growing surface responsible for the structural relaxation during the “chemical annealing” (CA) treatment were investigated to reveal the role of active species such as atomic hydrogen and excited states of noble gases such as He* and Ar*. Not only atomic hydrogen, but also excited species, Ar* or He*, were responsible for the decrease in hydrogen content in the hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films. Structural relaxation was also enhanced with He* and Ar*. The stability under illumination was remarkably improved in the films prepared by the CA process at substrate temperatures higher than 300°C.