Effect of substrate temperature on plasma parameter in high rate growth of stable amorphous silicon

Electron temperature, a key plasma parameter for obtaining highly stabilized a-Si:H in a plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposition process, shows an anomalous behavior against film-preparation conditions such as substrate temperature, gas pressure, etc. It has been suggested that an electron-attachment process to higher silane molecules formed in the plasma is a cause of the anomalous behavior of electron temperature. Taking into account these effects for reducing the electron temperature in the plasma, stable a-Si:H having a saturated defect density after light soaking of 2×10¹⁶ cm^-3 has been successfully prepared at high growth rate of 20 Å/sec