Initial growth of intrinsic microcrystalline silicon thin film: Dependence on pre-hydrogen glow discharge and substrate surface morphology

[Display omitted] ▶ Pre-hydrogen glow discharge decreases amorphous incubation volume. ▶ Pre-hydrogen glow discharge increases the nuclei density. ▶ Substrate surface morphology affects the formation of crystalline. We found the decreases of amorphous incubation volume from Raman spectra and surface roughness from AFM in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films deposited with a pre-hydrogen glow discharge. The above phenomena are attributed to the increase in the nuclei density as observed by AFM measurements. Substrate surface morphology of eagle2000 glass modified by wet etching also has a positive effect on the nucleation and crystalline formation. In addition, μc-Si:H doped layer is also beneficial for decreasing the amorphous incubation layer thickness because of surface roughness and crystallinity in the μc-Si:H doped layer.