Binding and surface diffusion of SiH3 radicals and the roughness of hydrogenated amorphous silicon
- 10 February 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 82 (6) , 883-885
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1544439
Abstract
Local density formalism pseudopotential calculations find that the growth radical SiH 3 binds to the hydrogen-terminated (111)Si surface. The bound site is not the three-center Si–H–Si bridging site previously assumed. It has a direct Si–Si bond between the SiH 3 and the surface Si, and the terminal hydrogen is displaced to a bond center of a lateral surface Si–Si bond. This site is more stable as the unpaired electron can delocalize over more Si–Si bonds. A bound site validates the standard model of the growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a- Si:H ) and microcrystalline Si, in which a mobile growth species allows surface diffusion and creates smooth surfaces.Keywords
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