Low-temperature growth of nano-structured silicon thin films on ITO initiated by metal catalysts

Pierre-Jean Alet (1) , Serge Palacin (1) , Pere Roca I Cabarrocas (2)

1 LCSI - Laboratoire de Chimie des Surfaces et Interfaces
2 LPICM - Laboratoire de physique des interfaces et des couches minces [Palaiseau]

Nano-structured silicon thin films have been grown on tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) at temperatures lower than 200ºC. Nanometer-scaled aggregates of metal (copper or gold) obtained from evaporated layers were necessary to initiate the nano-structuring growth. Different deposition conditions have been investigated. The highest aspect ratio was obtained with copper and high-pressure plasmas with SiH4 diluted in H2. The metals help dissociating silane so the deposition starts faster on the aggregates than around them, which leads to the nano-structuration. It is likely that the metal remains confined at the interface between ITO and silicon and do not diuse in the silicon layer.

Domains: Material chemistry

Pierre-Jean Alet, Serge Palacin, Pere Roca I Cabarrocas. Low-temperature growth of nano-structured silicon thin films on ITO initiated by metal catalysts. Thin Solid Films, 2009, 517, pp.6405-6408. ⟨10.1016/j.tsf.2009.02.106⟩. ⟨cea-01056592⟩