Mechanical stress reduction in PECVD a-Si:H thin films

An experimental study on stress in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films is presented. To explain the physical origin of the stress, a model based on the atomic silicon clusters interaction is introduced. Our results show that the stress can be reduced using the model considerations. This mechanical stress reduction is achieved preserving low values of the hydrogen concentration in the films, a feature that is important for electronic applications of this material.