Phase transformations of an alumina membrane and its influence on silicon nucleation during the aluminium induced layer exchange

The aluminium induced layer exchange process is used for growing crystalline Si films on amorphous substrates like glass, which are further epitaxially thickened and can be used for photovoltaic applications. In this work we investigated Al2O3 membranes separating the Al and Si layer during the layer exchange by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and studied the influence of the membranes' structure on crystallization of Si. We observed a phase transformation of the membrane from the amorphous state to γ-Al2O3 at exchange temperatures at above 450 °C. At higher temperatures this transformations induces cracks into the thin membrane. We further discuss the influence of this phase transformation on the preferential orientation of the growing Si grains.