Structural Analysis by Infrared and X‐Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Amorphous Silicon Produced by Plasma‐Deposition

We investigate by IR and XPS a series of amorphous SiO x films with 0.88<x<2 incorporating a few atomic percent of H and N. In the material with intermediate oxygen fraction (x<1), most hydrogen is incorporated as (O)SiH. The hydrogen incorporation pattern gradually changes to (O 2 )SiH and (O 3 )SiH as x increases and consists completely of Si-OH groups for x→2. The composition of the films is inhomogeneous. The existence of a segregated, oxygen-rich phase is supported by the peak frequency of Si-O-Si stretching vibration