Thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogen evolution in hydrogenated amorphous silicon films

Plasma Physics Corporation, P.O. Box 548, Locust Valley, NY 11650 The changes in enthalpy and entropy due to hydrogen evolution in hydrogenated amorphous silicon films were measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Hydrogen evolution was associated with an endothermic DSC peak, as supported by thermogravimetric analysis and evolved gas analysis. The en-thalpy and entropy changes of hydrogen evolution increased with heating rate and hydrogen content, because the evolution involved not only Si-H bond breaking, but also defect formation (such as Si-Si bond breaking), which was enhanced by a high flow of evolving hydrogen. In contrast, the activation energy of hydrogen evolution was controlled by the doping rather than the hydrogen content, because doping affected the Si-H bonding, which in turn affected the state before hydrogen evolution. Crystallization, which occurred at tempera-tures higher than hydrogen evolution, was delayed for the amorphous silicon film in a higher disordered state after hydrogen evolution, suggesting that hydrogen content influenced the crystallization process.