Growth of Crystalline Silicon Films on Polycrystalline Substrate by Vacuum Evaporation

Crystalline films of silicon were prepared on a tungsten substrate by the vacuum evaporation. The technique used here was the crystal growth from a gold-silicon alloy zone on a metal substrate. Growth of plane crystals or whisker crystals were observed depending on growth conditions such as substrate temperature, thickness of gold film and evaporation rate. The sizes of grown crystals were as large as several hundreds microns. Their orientation is (111) plane parallel to the substrate and their conductivity type is n type. The detail of the growing technique and the examination of grown films by optical - and electron microscope will be explained.