High hydrogen dilution and low substrate temperature cause columnar growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Columnar growth was observed in the amorphous part of mixed phase layers deposited at very low substrate temperatures. The width of the columns and the layer thickness at which they are first distinguishable in a cross‐sectional transmission electron microscope (X‐TEM) image, about 120 nm, is similar for the substrate temperature range of 40–100 °C, but the columns are less well developed when either the substrate temperature is increased or the dilution ratio is lowered. This growth behaviour and the incubation layer are attributed to hydrogen‐induced surface diffusion of growth precursors resulting in an amorphous–amorphous roughness transition.