ABSTRACTSuccessive deuterium diffusion and effusion experiments are performed on undoped microcrystalline silicon obtained from thermally crystallized sputtered amorphous silicon thin films. The effect of prior incorporation of deuterium during the amorphous film growth on the crystallization mechanism and on the microcrystalline film quality is probed by the use of the post hydrogenation procedure. In connection with the deuterium solubility as provided by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) profiling, the analysis of the effusion spectra suggests the existence of large cavities in the crystallized a-Si:D films, containing most probably molecular hydrogen. They are absent in the corresponding crystallized non-deuterated a-Si films. Other deuterium configurations seem to be present in both kinds of samples such as weakly bonded deuterium in small clusters and at grain boundaries.
Molecular hydrogen diffusion in nanostructured amorphous silicon thin films
