Claims
- 1. A method for producing fluorine-containing amorphous semiconductor material comprising depositing amorphous semiconductor material on a substrate and introducing XeF.sub.2 during said film deposition process to intimately intermix fluorine throughout said semiconductor material.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said amorphous semiconductor material comprises silicon.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said amorphous silicon material is deposited onto said substrate by placing said substrate in a deposition chamber and introducing a mixed silicon gas into said chamber.
- 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said mixed silicon gas is selected from the group consisting of SiH.sub.4, SiH.sub.4 diluted with H.sub.2, and SiH.sub.4 diluted with Ar.
- 5. The method of claim 2, wherein said amorphous silicon semiconductor material comprises a thin film selected from the group consisting of amorphous silicon, amorphous silicon-carbon, and amorphous silicon-germanium.
- 6. The method of claim 3, wherein said mixed gaseous silicon is deposited onto said substrate within said chamber utilizing radio frequency (RF) glow discharge techniques.
- 7. The method of claimed in claim 6, wherein said RF glow discharge technique comprises establishing a high frequency electrode disposed within said chamber to support said substrate, spacing a grounded electrode from said high-frequency electrode, and streaming said XeF.sub.2 into the zone between said electrodes.
- 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said method further includes providing a grounded stainless steel tube through which said XeF.sub.2 is streamed directly into the glow discharge zone midway between said grounded electrode and said high-frequency electrode.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said deposition atmosphere comprises SiH.sub.4.
- 10. The method of claim 3, wherein said deposition atmosphere is a vacuum, and said silicon is deposited onto said substrate by vacuum deposition.
- 11. The method of claim 3, wherein said silicon is deposited onto said substrate by chemical vapor deposition.
- 12. The method of claim 2, wherein powdered XeF.sub.2 is introduced into the deposition atmosphere in which said amorphous silicon material is growing on said substrate.
- 13. A process for incorporating fluorine into amorphous thin-film material comprising depositing amorphous thin-film material onto a substrate, said amorphous material being selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium, or mixtures thereof, and introducing XeF.sub.2 during said thin-film deposition process to incorporate and intimately intermix fluorine into said thin-film material.
- 14. The process as claimed in claim 13, wherein said thin-film material is deposited onto said substrate by providing a deposition atmosphere comprising mixed gaseous silicon selected from the group consisting of SiH.sub.4, SiH.sub.4 mixed with H.sub.2, or SiH.sub.4 mixed with Ar.
- 15. The process as claimed in claim 13, wherein said amorphous thin-film material is deposited on said substrate utilizing a technique selected from the group consisting of radio frequency (RF) glow discharge, vacuum deposition, and chemical vapor deposition.
- 16. The process as claimed in claim 13, wherein said XeF.sub.2 is introduced in powder form.
- 17. The process as claimed in claim 13, wherein said amorphous thin-film material is deposited onto said substrate within a deposition chamber by radio frequency glow discharge having a high-frequency electrode supporting said substrate.
- 18. The process as claimed in claim 17, wherein said XeF.sub.2 is introduced in between said high-frequency electrode and a grounded electrode spaced from said high-frequency electrode.
CONTRACTUAL ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The United States Government has rights in this invention under Contract No. DE-AC02-83CH10093 between the U. S. Department of Energy and the Solar Energy Research Institute, a division of the Midwest Research Institute.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
691933 |
Sep 1977 |
SUX |
1180065 |
Mar 1984 |
SUX |