A. Hadjadj et al., Role of the surface roughness in laser induced crystallization of nanostructured silicon films, J VAC SCI A, 18(2), 2000, pp. 529-535
The crystallization of hydrogenated nanostructured silicon (ns-Si:H) films
deposited from Ar-silane mixture in a low-pressure pulsed radio-frequency g
low discharge has been studied in relation with their structural and morpho
logical properties. Different techniques' of characterization converge to t
he fact that both the porosity and the surface roughness of the film increa
se with the plasma duration (T-on) used for the deposition. The correlation
between the film structure and the crystallization threshold has been inve
stigated. The modifications of the bulk structure of the film with T-on par
tly explain the decrease of the crystallization threshold (E-cryst) The rol
e of the surface roughness in the lowering of the crystallization threshold
is emphasized. Its contribution is interpreted by the enhancement of the e
lectromagnetic field at the ns-Si:H him surface. (C) 2000 American Vacuum S
ociety. [S0734-2101(00)09402-1].