Size Control of Nanoscale Silicon Particles Formed in Thermally Annealed A-Si∶H Films and Its Photoluminescence

A method to control the si ze of nanoscale silicon grown in thermally annealed hydrogenated amorphous silico n (a-Si∶H) films is reported. Using the characterizing techniques of micro-Ra man scattering, X-ray diffraction and computer simulation, it is found that the sizes of the formed silicon particles change with the temperature rising rate i n thermally annealing the a-Si∶H films. When the a-Si∶H films have been anne aled with high rising rate( ~100 ℃/s), the sizes of nanoscale silicon particle s are in the range of 1.6~15 nm. On the other hand, if the a-Si∶H films have been annealed with low temperature rising rate(~1 ℃/s), the sizes of nanoscale silicon particles are in the range of 23~46 nm. Based on the theory of crystal nucleation and growth, the effect of temperature rising rate on the sizes of th e formed silicon particles is discussed. Under high power laser irradiation, in situ nanocrystallization and subsequent nc-Si clusters are small enough for vis ible light emission, authors have not detected any visible photoluminescence(PL) from these nc-Si clusters before surface passivation. After electrochemical ox idization in hydrofluoric acid, however, intense red PL has been detected. Cycli c hydrofluoric oxidization and air exposure can cause subsequent blue shift in t he red emission. The importance of surface passivation and quantum confinement i n the visible emissions has been discussed.     

a-Si:H热处理过程中形成的纳米硅粒及其光致发光

报道了氢化非晶硅薄膜在600～620℃温度下快速退火10 s可以形成纳米晶硅,其拉曼散射表明,所形成的纳米晶硅在薄膜中的分布是随机的,其直径在1.6～15 nm内.根据晶体生长理论和计算机模拟,讨论了升温快慢与所形成纳米硅颗粒大小之间的关系,并且在强光照射下观察了纳米晶硅在薄膜中的结晶和生长情况.经退火形成的nc-Si可见光辐射较弱,不能检测到它们的光致发光,但用氢氟酸腐蚀钝化后则可检测到较强的红PL,并且钝化后的nc-Si在空气中暴露一定时间后,其辐射光波长产生了蓝移.就表面钝化和量子限制对可见光辐射的重要性作了讨论.     

a-SiH 热处理过程中纳米硅粒尺寸的控制(英文)

报道了控制热处理过程中含氢非晶硅中纳米硅颗粒大小的一种新方法。用喇曼散射、X射线衍射和计算机模拟,发现在非晶硅中所形成的纳米硅颗粒的大小,随着热退火过程中升温速率的变化而变化。在退火过程中,若非晶硅薄膜升温速率较高(～100℃/s),则所形成纳米硅粒的大小在1.6～15nm;若非晶硅薄膜升温速率较低(～1℃/s),则纳米硅粒大小在23～46nm。根据晶体生长理论,讨论了升温速率的高低与所形成的纳米硅颗粒大小的关系。     

热处理升温快慢对非晶硅中形成的纳米硅粒尺寸的影响

含氢非晶硅薄膜经过快速热退火处理后,我们用拉曼散射和X-射线衍射技术对样品进行分析.我们的实验结果表明:在非晶硅薄膜中形成的纳米硅晶粒的大小随着热退火过程中升温快慢而变化.在升温过程中,当单位时间内温度变化量较大时（～100℃/s）,则所形成纳米硅粒较小（～1.6～15nm）;若单位时间内温度变化量较低（～1℃/s）,则纳米硅粒较大（～23～46nm）。根据分形生长理论和计算机模拟,我们讨论了升温快慢与所形成的纳米硅颗粒大小的关系.     

利用热退火法从非晶硅薄膜中生长纳米硅粒

报道了一种从氢化非晶硅薄膜中生长纳米硅粒的方法.氢化非晶硅薄膜经过不同条件的热退火处理后,用拉曼散射和X射线衍射技术对样品进行了分析.实验结果表明:在快速升温条件下所形成的nc-Si在薄膜中的分布是随机均匀的,直径在1.6～15 nm范围内,硅粒大小随退火过程中升温快慢而变化.     

纳米硅薄膜的发光特性研究

研究了 nc- Si:H薄膜的光致发光 ( PL) ,分析了晶粒尺寸、温度对发光特性的影响。对发光样品 ,晶粒尺寸有一上限 ,其值在 4～ 5nm之间。在 10～ 77K,nc- Si:H薄膜的发光强度几乎没有变化 ;当温度高于 77K,发光强度指数式下降。随温度升高 ,发光峰位有少许红移。讨论了nc- Si:H光致发光机理 ,用量子限制 -发光中心模型对实验现象进行了解释。从载流子的激发、复合两方面讨论了发光过程 ,认为载流子在晶粒内部激发后 ,弛豫到晶粒界面的发光中心复合发光。     

纳米硅镶嵌氮化硅薄膜的制备与光致发光特性

为研究氮化硅薄膜发光材料的制备工艺及其光致发光机制,实验采用射频磁控反应溅射技术与热退火处理制备了纳米硅镶嵌氮化硅薄膜材料.利用红外光谱(IR)、X射线衍射谱(XRD)、能谱(EDS)和光致发光谱(PL),对不同工艺条件下薄膜样品的成分、结构和发光特性进行研究,发现在制备的富硅氮化硅薄膜材料中形成了纳米硅颗粒,并计算出其平均尺寸.在510 nm光激发下,观察到纳米硅发光峰,对样品发光机制进行了讨论,认为其较强的发光起因于缺陷态和纳米硅发光.     

利用等离子增强化学汽相沉积生长初期快速结晶的纳米晶硅

成功地利用传统的等离子增强化学汽相沉积技术制备了纳米晶硅。为了提高生长初期的结晶速度,在PECVD设备和干法刻蚀设备中,利用H2/SF6等离子体对Si Nx薄膜表面进行处理。在制备纳米/微米晶粒结晶硅时常用的氢气稀释条件下,沉积得到了纳米晶硅。利用XRD和TEM观察了氢化纳米晶硅(nc-Si∶H)的微结构,发现实验成功得到了小于10 nm的晶体硅。为了检测结构和电学特性,测试了纳米晶硅薄膜的亮态和暗态电导率。室温下,电导率从非晶硅的10-10S/cm增加到10-5S/cm。     

利用快速退火法控制非晶硅薄膜中纳米硅粒尺寸

报道了利用快速退火法控制膜中纳米硅粒大小的方法,讨论了升温快慢与所形成的纳米硅粒大小的关系.     

微腔中nc-Si/SiN超晶格的光致发光

研究了一维光子晶体微腔结构对nc-Si/a-SiNz超晶格发射的调制.一维光子晶体微腔采用两种具有不同折射率的非化学组分非晶氮化硅的周期调制结构,腔中嵌入采用激光晶化方法制备的硅量子点阵列,从Raman谱和透射电子显微镜分析得到其尺寸约为3～4 nm.从光致发光谱上观察到明显的选模作用、明显变窄的发光峰以及约两个量级的发光强度的增强.微腔对硅量子点阵列发光的调制主要表现在两个方面:共振模式的增强和非共振模式的抑制.硅量子点中位于腔共振模式的辐射跃迁被增强,非共振模式的辐射跃迁被抑制,因此位于腔共振频率处的跃迁通道成为硅量子点中唯一的辐射跃迁通道,导致光致发光谱的窄化和强度的增强.因此,在提高硅材料发光效率方面,光子晶体微腔具有非常大的应用前景.     

Improving the Performance of SiGe Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Photodetectors by Using an Amorphous Silicon Passivation Layer

SiGe metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM-PDs) with a thin amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) passivation layer have been fabricated by an ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD) system. It was found that the thin (30 nm) a-Si:H passivation layer could effectively suppress the dark current of SiGe MSM-PDs. As compared to the unpassivated devices, the dark current for devices with a-Si:H passivation layers was drastically reduced by 1.7 times 10⁵, and the photo-to-dark current ratio was enhanced by 1.33 times 10⁶. We attribute this result to the passivation effect of a-Si:H films on SiGe surfaces by hydrogen diffusion, which can compensate the dangling bonds on the SiGe surface.     

Stability of Amorphous-Silicon and Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistors Under DC and AC Stress

Bottom-gated n-channel thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated using hydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)/ nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) bilayers as channel materials, which are deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low temperatures. The stability of these devices is investigated under static and dynamic bias stress conditions. For comparison, the stability of a-Si:H and nc-Si:H single-layer TFTs is investigated under similar bias stress conditions. The overall results demonstrate that the a-Si:H/nc-Si:H bilayer TFTs are superior compared with their counterparts of a-Si:H and nc-Si:H TFTs regarding device performance and stability.     

快速光热退火法制备多晶硅薄膜的研究

为了制备应用于太阳电池的优质多晶硅薄膜,研究了非晶硅薄膜的快速光热退火技术。先利用 PECVD 设备沉积非晶硅薄膜,然后放入快速光热退火炉中进行退火。退火前后的薄膜利用 X 射线衍射仪(XRD)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)测试其晶体结构及表面形貌,用电导率设备测试其暗电导率。研究表明退火温度、退火时间对非晶硅薄膜的晶化都有很大的影响,光热退火前先用常规高温炉预热有助于增大多晶硅薄膜的晶粒尺寸和暗电导率。     

非晶硅薄膜YAG激光微晶化晶粒生长研究

以单晶硅(111)为衬底,以等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术制备的非晶硅薄膜为前驱物,采用YAG激光晶化技术实现从非晶硅薄膜到纳米晶硅薄膜的相变过程。采用X射线衍射仪和原子力显微镜对YAG激光晶化薄膜进行了表征与分析。结果表明:薄膜的晶粒尺寸在纳米级;随着激光脉冲频率的增加,晶粒尺寸先变大后变小,其最佳结晶频率区间为10～12 Hz。     

The effects of hydrogen on aluminum-induced crystallization of sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon

The effects of hydrogen on aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) were investigated by controlling the hydrogen content of a-SiH films. Nonhydrogenated (a-Si) and hydrogenated (a-Si:H) samples were deposited by sputtering and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). All aluminum films were deposited by sputtering. Hydrogen was introduced into the sputter-deposited a-Si films during the deposition. After deposition, the samples were annealed at temperatures from 200°C to 400°C for different periods of time. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were used to confirm the presence and degree of crystallization in the a-Si:H films. For nonhydrogenated films, crystallization initiates at a temperature of 350°C. The crystallization of sputter-deposited a-Si:H initiates at 225°C when 14% hydrogen is present in the film. As the hydrogen content is decreased, the crystallization temperature increases. On the other hand, the crystallization initiation temperature for PECVD a-Si:H containing 11at.%H is 200°C. Further study revealed that the crystallization initiation temperature is a function, not only of the total atomic percent hydrogen in the film, but also a function of the way in which the hydrogen is bonded in the film. Models are developed for crystallization initiation temperature dependence on hydrogen concentration in a-Si:H thin films.     

The Substrate Effects on Kinetics and Mechanism of Solid-Phase Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

The substrate effects on solid-phase crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) films deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) using Si₂H₆ gas have been extensively investigated. The a-Si films were prepared on various substrates, such as thermally oxidized Si wafer (SiO₂/Si), quartz and LPCVD-oxide, and annealed at 600 °C in an N₂ ambient for crystallization. The crystallization behavior was found to be strongly dependent on the substrate even though all the silicon films were deposited in amorphous phase. It was first observed that crystallization in a-Si films deposited on the SiO₂/Si starts from the interface between the a-Si and the substrate, so called interface-induced crystallization, while random nucleation process dominates on the other substrates. The different kinetics and mechanism of solid-phase crystallization is attributed to the structural disorderness of a-Si films, which is strongly affected by the surface roughness of the substrates.     

CO2激光化学气相沉积a-Si:H薄膜

用输出功率为50W的CW CO2激光照射纯硅烷(SiH4)气体得到了a-Si:H薄膜。沉积速率达到200/min。用电子衍射方法测定了所沉积的薄膜是非晶态的。测量了薄膜的光电导率和暗电导率,其比值达104量级。用紫外可见光谱分析了薄膜的光学性质,计算出光能隙为1.44～2.0eV。得到了沉积速率、光电导率、暗电导率、光学能隙随基片温度变化的关系曲线。阐述了CO2激光化学气相沉积a-Si:H薄膜的机理。     

Microstructure evolution of amorphous silicon thin films upon annealing studied by positron annihilation

Amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin films were prepared on glass substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Influence of annealing temperature on the microstructure, surface morphology, and defects evolution of the films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM) and positron annihilation Doppler broadening spectroscopy (DBS) based on a slow positron beam, respectively. The S parameter of the as-deposited a-Si thin film is high, indicative of amorphous state of Si film with many defects. The a-Si gradually grows into polycrystalline silicon with increasing temperature to 650 °C. For the films annealed below ~450 °C, positron diffusion lengths are rather small because most positrons are trapped in the defects of the a-Si films and annihilated there. With further rising the temperature to 600 °C, the diffusion length of positrons increases significantly due to the removal of vacancy-type defects upon annealing at a high temperature. The results indicate that the coalescence of small vacancy-type defects in a-Si thin film and the crystallization of a-Si occur around 450 °C and 650 °C, respectively.     

Properties of magnetron sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Hydrogen concentrations and bonding configurations were studied in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited at 50‡C using the magnetron mode of sputtering with partial hydrogen concentrations between 0 and 90 percent in flowing argon. Hydrogen content within the films was determined from nuclear reaction analysis, and the chemical bonding of hydrogen was determined from infrared absorption of as-deposited, thermally annealed, and ion-bombarded films. Hydrogen/silicon ratios in the films increase to a maximum of 0.31 with increasing hydrogen in the deposition system. Ion backscattering shows ∼ 6 at.% argon trapped in the films, but no oxygen was detected by either ion backscattering or by sputter-Auger analysis. The wag and bend modes for Si-H in the films are typical of sputter-deposited a-Si:H; however, the stretch mode region is atypical with absorption near 2000 cm^−l dominating even for H/Si ratio of 0.27. From results of thermal annealing and post-deposition ion bombardment, it is concluded that argon ion bombardment during deposition produces enhanced absorption near 2000 cm^-1 in these a-Si:H films deposited by magnetron sputtering. This work was sponsored in part by the U. S. Department of Energy, under Contract DE-AC04-76-DP00789 and the U. S. Army Research Office, Contract DAA29-79-C-0026. U. S. Department of Energy facility.     

360-nm Photoluminescence from Silicon Oxide Films Embedded with Silicon Nanocrystals

Si-rich silicon oxide films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering onto composite Si/SiO2 targets. After annealed at different temperature, the silicon oxide films embedded with silicon nanocrystals were obtained. The photoluminescenee（PL） from the silicon oxide films embedded with silicon nanocrystals was observed at room temperature. The strong peak is at 360 nm, its position is independent of the annealing temperature. The origin of the 360-nm PL in the silicon oxide films embedded with silicon nanoerystals was discussed.