Correlation between microstructural and optical properties of the nc-Si embedded on the porous anodic alumina layer

The plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique is used to produce the nanocrystalline silicon films (nc-Si) and deposited on the porous anodic alumina layer (PAA) which is synthesized by electrochemical anodization method. The morphological surface of the nc-Si/PAA films prepared in different substrates was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structural and optical properties of these samples were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer. The effect of different substrates on the incorporation of nc-Si film in the PAA is presented. Both SEM and AFM studies show better penetration of nc-Si in the case of PAA/Al substrate providing a larger pores diameter.