Effects of gas flow rate on deposition rate and number of Si clusters incorporated into a-Si:H films

The suppression of cluster incorporation into a-Si:H films is the key to better film stability, because incorporated clusters contribute to the formation of SiH2 bonds and hence lead to light-induced degradation of the films. To deposit stable a-Si:H solar cells at a high deposition rate (DR), we studied the effects of the gas flow rate on DR and the number of Si clusters incorporated into a-Si:H films with discharge power as a parameter, using a multihollow discharge-plasma chemical vapor deposition method. We succeeded in depositing high-quality a-Si:H films with the incorporation of few clusters at DR of 0.1 nm/s. We also found that, under a low gas flow rate and a high discharge power, high-density clusters exist in plasma and hence DR is reduced as a result of radical loss to the clusters.