Hydrogen measurements in SiNx: H/Si thin films by ERDA
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Date
2007-01-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Trans Tech Publications Ltd.
Abstract
Thin SiN film deposited on Si by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) is used for surface passivation of Si. During the PECVD process Hydrogen is incorporated into the SiN film, and the passivation properties of the resulting SiNx:H layers play an important role in enhancing the energy conversion efficiency of solar cells. It is believed that the Hydrogen present in SiNx:H is responsible for this enhancement, and therefore its concentration in the passivating layer is an important parameter. The Hydrogen composition and its depth profile in thin SiNx:H films of 20nm to 200nm was measured by elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), using a 1.7MeV He+ ion beam of (1×2)mm2 , generated by a high stability 2MV Tandetron ion beam accelerator. Simultaneously, Rutherford backscattering (RBS) spectra were recorded for each sample. The results show that the Hydrogen concentration in the SiNx:H layers is dependent of the deposition conditions. Also, Hydrogen was found to be homogenously distributed across the SiNx:H layer thickness, and the SiN x:H/Si interfaces were well defined. © 2007 Trans Tech Publications Ltd.
Description
Physical copy held by ANSTO Library at DDC: 620.11/15
Keywords
Thin Films, Chemical vapor deposition, Silicon, Solar cells, Accelerators, Rutherford Scattering, Hydrogen
Citation
Ionescu, M., Richards, B., McIntosh, K., Siegele, R., Stelcer, E., Cohen, D. D., & Chandra, T. (2007). Hydrogen Measurements in SiNx: H/Si Thin Films by ERDA. Paper presented at THERMEC '2006, International Conference on Processing & Manufacturing of Advanced Materials, Abstracts, July 4-8, 2006, Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, Canada. In Materials Science Forum (Vols. 539–543, pp. 3551–3556). doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.539-543.3551