Jae-Hyun Shim

Erratum: “Formation of Si Nanocrystallites in Al-Added Amorphous Si Films by Electron Beam Irradiation”

Si nanocrystallites were formed in Al-added amorphous Si films (Al/a-Si, a-AlxSi1-x) by the irradiation of a focused electron beam. In-situ heating of the a-Al0.025Si0.975 films was performed at temperatures up to 400 °C. The size, shape, and concentration of the Si crystallites varied significantly with the film temperature and electron beam irradiation time. Si nanocrystallites with a mean size of ~10 nm were formed when the films were kept at 200 °C, and irradiated using an electron beam with a current density of 15.7 pA/cm2. The total crystallite volume fraction in the films increased from ~9.2 to ~94.8% with increasing temperature from 100 to 400 °C. The estimated activation energy for the crystallization in the a-Al0.025Si0.975 film under the electron beam irradiation was 0.78±0.05 eV.

Effect of electron-beam irradiation on the formation of nanocrystalline Si in Al-added amorphous Si films

Si nanocrystallites of ~ 10 nm were formed in Al-added amorphous Si films by the irradiation of a focused electron-beam; the crystallite volume fraction in the films varied from ~ 35.7 to ~ 94.8 % as the in-situ temperature was raised from 200 to 400 degC. The activation energy for the nucleation of Si crystallites in the a-Al0.025Si0.975 film under the electron-beam irradiation was measured to be 0.8 plusmn 0.13 eV.

EFFECT OF REACTION GAS ON THE STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL FEATURES OF NC-SI:H THIN FILMS PREPARED BY PECVD

Hydrogenated nano-crystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin films were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The variation in the crystallinity, nano-structure and optical characteristics of the nc-Si:H films with deposition variables such as reaction gas, post-deposition heat-treatment and deposition time were investigated; the relationship between the optical nano-structural features of the nc-Si:H films was discussed. The intensity of the PL peak, observed at about ~ 480 nm region, increased with the amount of reaction gas as well as deposition time. On the other hand, PL peaks appear at ~ 580 nm region when the sample was annealed in vacuum, and the intensity of the peaks increased with increasing the annealing time. Its believed that radiative recombination occurred due to the defects of SiOx in the film.