Surface Smoothening Mechanism of Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

Mayur S. Valipa, Tamas Bakos, Eray S. Aydil, and Dimitrios Maroudas
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 216102 – Published 17 November 2005

Abstract

An important concern in the deposition of thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (aSiH) films is to obtain smooth surfaces. Herein, we combine molecular-dynamics simulations with first-principles density functional theory calculations to elucidate the smoothening mechanism of plasma deposited aSiH thin films. We show that the deposition precursor may diffuse rapidly on the aSiH film surface via overcoordinated surface Si atoms and incorporate into the film preferentially in surface valleys, with activation barriers for incorporation dependent on the local surface morphology. Experimental data on smoothening and precursor diffusion are accounted for.

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  • Received 28 April 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.216102

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Mayur S. Valipa1,2, Tamas Bakos1, Eray S. Aydil3, and Dimitrios Maroudas1,*

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-3110, USA
  • 2Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5080, USA
  • 3Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0132, USA

  • *Corresponding author. Electronic address: maroudas@ecs.umass.edu

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Vol. 95, Iss. 21 — 18 November 2005

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