Crystalline silicon surface passivation by amorphous silicon carbide films

This article reviews the surface passivation of n- and p-type crystalline silicon by hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide films, which provide surface recombination velocities in the range of 10 cm s−1. Films are deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition from a silane/methane plasma. We determine the passivation quality measuring the injection level (Δn)-dependent lifetime (τeff(Δn)) by the quasi-steady-state photoconductance technique. We analyze the experimental τeff(Δn)-curves using a physical model based on an insulator/semiconductor structure and an automatic fitting routine to calculate physical parameters like the fundamental recombination velocities of electrons and holes and the fixed charge created in the film. In this way, we get a deeper insight into the effect of the deposition temperature, the gas flow ratio, the doping density of the substrate and the film thickness on surface passivation quality.