A study of the role of various reactions on the density distribution of hydrogen, silylene, and silyl in SiH4/H2 plasma discharges

Fluid model has been used to study the effect of pressure on the distribution of hydrogen (H), silylene (SiH2), and silyl (SiH3) in hydrogen silane plasma discharges used for deposition of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) or hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films for solar cells. Time averaged reaction rates have been calculated to study the influence of various reactions on the density distributions of hydrogen, silylene, and silyl. Change in the distributions of hydrogen and silylene from bell shaped distribution at low pressure (1 Torr) to double humped distribution at high pressure (5 Torr) is explained with the help of time averaged reaction rates. Important reactions have been identified that contribute to the production and consumption of hydrogen (H), silylene (SiH2), and silyl (SiH3). The hydrogen consumption reactions SiH4 + H → SiH3 + H2 and SiH3 + H → SiH2 + H2 are found to play a central role in deciding the distribution of hydrogen. On the other hand, silylene cons...

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