Effects of inert gas dilution of silane on plasma-deposited a -Si:H films

Electrical, optical, and structural characterization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films plasma-deposited from mixtures of SiH4 with different inert-gas diluents reveals substantial differences in a number of properties. A general trend of increasing defect density with atomic weight of the inert gas is observed. Of specific interest to device applications is the observation that high deposition rates can be achieved concurrently with low defect densities when helium is used as a deluent.