Very low temperature deposition of polycrystalline Si films fabricated by hydrogen dilution with electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition

Characteristics of polycrystalline silicon films deposited both on SiO 2 and Corning 7059 glass substrates are presented in this paper. The silicon films were deposited by a hydrogen dilution method using electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition at 250° C without any thermal or laser annealing. The hydrogen dilution ratio was between 90% and 99%. The geometric configuration and surface morphology of polycrystalline silicon films were studied by atomic force microscopy. The largest grain size of the deposited silicon films, identified by plan-view transmission electron microscopy dark-field imaging, was about 1 µ m. From Raman spectrum, the crystalline fraction of polycrystalline silicon films was identified to be nearly 100%. The polycrystalline silicon was found to be preferentially - and -oriented, from the X-ray diffraction pattern.