Claims
- 1. A thermal chemical vapor deposition method of depositing amorphous silicon on a substrate which comprises:
- a) loading a substrate into a chemical vapor deposition vacuum chamber;
- b) controlling the temperature of deposition below about 600.degree. C.;
- c) adding a silicon precursor gas from the group consisting of silane, disilane, silicon tetrachloride, silicon trichloride and silicon dichloride to the chamber; and
- d) maintaining a high pressure in the chamber of at least about 25 Torr until an amorphous silicon film is deposited on the substrate.
- 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the temperature of deposition is at least about 500.degree. C. and below about 600.degree. C.
- 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the silicon precursor gas is mixed with a carrier gas.
- 4. A method according to claim 3 wherein said carrier gas is nitrogen.
- 5. A method according to claim 3 wherein said carrier gas is hydrogen.
- 6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the temperature of deposition is maintained between about 520.degree.-590.degree. C.
- 7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the pressure is maintained in the range 25-150 Torr.
- 8. A method of making polycrystalline silicon films comprising:
- a) loading a substrate into a thermal chemical vapor deposition chamber;
- b) controlling the temperature of deposition below about 600.degree. C.;
- c) adding a silicon precursor gas to the chamber;
- d) maintaining a high pressure in the chamber of at least about 25 Torr until a silicon film is deposited on the substrate, said silicon film having few nucleation sites and;
- e) annealing said film at a temperature of least about 600.degree. C. until crystallization takes place.
- 9. A method according to claim 8 wherein said deposition range is from about 520.degree.-560.degree. C.
- 10. A method according to claim 8 wherein said deposition range is from about 580.degree.-590 C.
- 11. A method according to claim 8 wherein said deposition pressure is from about 25.degree.-150 Torr.
- 12. A method of claim 8 wherein said silicon precursor gas is selected from the group consisting of silane, disilane, silicon tetrachloride, silicon trichloride and silicon dichloride.
- 13. The method of claim 8 wherein the silicon precursor gas is mixed with a carrier gas.
- 14. A method of claim 13 wherein said carrier gas is nitrogen.
- 15. A method of claim 13 wherein said carrier gas is hydrogen.
- 16. A method of claim 8 wherein said nucleation sites have a microcrystalline density less than about 3.5.times.10.sup.8 cm .sup.-2.
- 17. A method of depositing silicon on a substrate by thermal chemical vapor deposition, said method comprising:
- (a) loading a substrate into a chemical vapor deposition chamber;
- (b) controlling the temperature of deposition below about 600.degree. C.;
- (c) adding a silicon precursor gas to said chamber;
- (d) causing said silicon precursor gas to flow from an inlet port parallel to and across the entire face of the substrate and then to an outlet port; and
- (e) maintaining a high pressure in the chamber of at least about 25 Torr until a silicon film is deposited on the substrate.
- 18. A method according to claim 17 wherein said silicon precursor gas is selected from the group consisting of silane, disilane, silicon tetrachloride, silicon trichloride and silicon dichloride.
- 19. The method of claim 17 wherein the silicon precursor gas is mixed with a carrier gas.
- 20. A method of claim 19 wherein said carrier gas is nitrogen.
- 21. A method of claim 19 wherein said carrier gas is hydrogen.
- 22. A method of 17 wherein said silicon film is annealed at a temperature above at least 600.degree. C., until recrystallization takes place.
- 23. A method of depositing silicon on a substrate by thermal chemical vapor deposition, said method comprising:
- (a) placing a substrate face up onto a pedestal in a thermal chemical vapor deposition chamber;
- (b) controlling the temperature of deposition below about 600.degree. C.;
- (c) flowing a silicon precursor gas into said chamber through an inlet on one side of said deposition chamber over said substrate, and out through an exhaust outlet opposite said inlet port;
- (d) maintaining a high pressure in the chamber of at least about 25 Torr until a silicon film is deposited on the substrate; and
- (e) annealing said film at a temperature above 600.degree. C. until crystallization occurs.
- 24. A method of depositing silicon on a substrate by thermal chemical vapor deposition, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) loading a substrate into a chemical vapor deposition chamber;
- (b) controlling the temperature of deposition below about 630.degree. C;
- (c) adding a silicon precursor gas to said chamber;
- (d) causing said silicon precursor gas to flow from an inlet port across the substrate in a substantially laminar flow and then to an outlet port; and
- (e) maintaining a high pressure in the chamber of at least about 25 Torr until a silicon film is deposited on the substrate.
- 25. A method according to claim 24 wherein said silicon precursor gas is selected from the group consisting of silane, disilane, silicon tetrachloride, silicon trichloride and silicon dichloride.
- 26. The method of claim 24 wherein the silicon precursor gas is mixed with a carrier gas.
- 27. A method of claims 26 wherein said carrier gas is nitrogen.
- 28. A method of claim 26 wherein said carrier gas is hydrogen.
- 29. A method of 24 wherein said silicon film is annealed at a temperature above at least 600.degree. C. until recrystallization takes place.
- 30. A method of making a doped polycrystalline silicon film comprising:
- (a) loading a substrate into a thermal chemical vapor deposition chamber;
- (b) controlling the temperature of deposition below about 600.degree. C.;
- (c) adding a silicon precursor gas and a dopant gas to said chamber;
- (d) maintaining a high pressure in the chamber of at least about 25 Torr until a doped silicon film is deposited on the substrate;
- (e) annealing said doped film at a temperature of at least about 600.degree. C., until crystallization takes place.
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/44,146, filed May 18, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,257, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/143,330, filed Oct. 26, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/001,216 filed Jan. 6, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/742,954 filed Aug. 9, 1991, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
51-1389 |
Jan 1976 |
JPX |
Continuations (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
444146 |
May 1995 |
|
Parent |
143330 |
Oct 1993 |
|
Parent |
742954 |
Aug 1991 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
01216 |
Jan 1993 |
|