Surface morphology evolution of microcrystalline silicon p-layer prepared by RFPECVD

Surface morphology and crystallinity of silicon p-layer have been investigated on the effect of various deposition conditions of RFPECVD in order to clarify crystalline nuclei evolution. Crystallinity increased with increasing hydrogen dilution, but decreased with increasing both RF input power and diborane doping. Microcrystalline nuclei size increased with increasing working pressure, RF input power and substrate temperature. However, surface morphology was not correlated with crystallinity or deposition rate. A film with relatively large nuclei but having rather low crystallinity can be prepared for some condition, and vice versa. In order to get a dense microcrystalline silicon intrinsic layer subsequently deposited, surface morphology control of microcrystalline p-layer seems to be important as well as crystallinity.