Effect of higher-silane formation on electron temperature in a silane glow-discharge plasma

Electron temperature measured by an optical-emission spectroscopy shows a strong substrate temperature dependence in a silane glow-discharge plasma. The electron temperature increases with time after turning on the plasma at a low substrate temperature of 150 °C, while it stays constant at a high substrate temperature of 400 °C. The electron temperature is drastically reduced when the source gas silane is diluted with hydrogen at low substrate temperatures. These results suggest that the electron temperature in silane plasma is strongly affected by an electron-attachment process to higher-order silane molecules whose formation reactions show negative activation energies with gas temperature and are also suppressed by the presence of hydrogen molecules.

[1]  K. Koga,et al.  In situ observation of nucleation and subsequent growth of clusters in silane radio frequency discharges , 2000 .

[2]  M. Takai,et al.  Guiding principles for obtaining stabilized amorphous silicon at larger growth rates , 2000 .

[3]  K. Koga,et al.  Effects of Gas Temperature Gradient, Pulse Discharge Modulation, and Hydrogen Dilution on Particle Growth in Silane RF Discharges , 2000 .

[4]  R. Hayashi,et al.  Gas-phase diagnosis and high-rate growth of stable a-Si:H , 1999 .

[5]  A. Matsuda.  PLASMA AND SURFACE REACTIONS FOR OBTAINING LOW DEFECT DENSITY AMORPHOUS SILICON AT HIGH GROWTH RATES , 1998 .

[6]  A. Fridman,et al.  Dusty plasma formation: Physics and critical phenomena. Theoretical approach , 1996 .

[7]  A. Kono,et al.  Laser-Induced-Fluorescence Study of the SiH2 Density in RF SiH4 Plasmas with Xe, Ar, He, and H2 Dilution Gases , 1995 .

[8]  J. Perrin,et al.  Possible routes for cluster growth and particle formation in RF silane discharges , 1994 .

[9]  Seung J. Choi,et al.  The role of negative ions in the formation of particles in low‐pressure plasmas , 1993 .

[10]  A. Howling,et al.  Powder Dynamics in Very High-Frequency Silane Plasmas , 1992 .

[11]  S. Tsuda,et al.  The Influence of the Si-H2 Bond on the Light-Induced Effect in a-Si Films and a-Si Solar Cells , 1989 .

[12]  J. Jasinski,et al.  Absolute rate constants for the reaction of silylene with hydrogen, silane, and disilane , 1988 .

[13]  S. Oikawa,et al.  On the primary process in the plasma‐chemical and photochemical vapor deposition from silane. III. Mechanism of the radiative species Si*(1P 0) formation , 1986 .

[14]  J. Perrin,et al.  Dissociative excitation of SiH4, SiD4, Si2H6 and GeH4 by 0–100 eV electron impact , 1983 .

[15]  A. Matsuda,et al.  Plasma spectroscopy—Glow discharge deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon☆ , 1982 .