Claims
- 1. A method for the glow discharge deposition of a high quality layer of a hydrogenated, silicon containing semiconductor alloy material, including steps of:
- providing a deposition system having a plasma region defined therein, said system including a conduit for introducing a preselected process gas therein to and a source of electromagnetic energy for activating said process gas in said plasma region so as to form a plasma therefrom;
- supporting a substrate in said deposition system;
- introducing a process gas having hydrogen and at least silicon therein, into said system;
- maintaining the process gas at a process pressure which is less than atmospheric;
- inputting a preselected power level of electromagnetic energy into said process gas so as to create a plasma from, and decompose, the process gas into deposition species which deposit a layer of a hydrogenated, silicon containing, semiconductor alloy material on the substrate, at a deposition rate corresponding to said power level; and
- maintaining the substrate at a preselected temperature which has been determined to be positively correlated with the deposition rate and which is high enough to impart sufficient kinetic energy to the layer to activate the removal of undesirable morphologies therefrom, but low enough to prevent degradation of the layer caused by loss of hydrogen.
- 2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of maintaining the substrate at a preselected temperature comprises maintaining the substrate at a temperature:
- in the range of 300.degree.-350.degree. C. when the deposition rate is in the range of 10-20 angstroms per second;
- in the range of 325.degree. C.-400.degree. C. when the deposition rate is above 20, but below 50 angstroms per second; and
- in the range of 350.degree. C.-500.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 50 angstroms per second or greater.
- 3. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of maintaining the substrate at a preselected temperature comprises:
- maintaining the substrate at a temperature of:
- 300.degree. C.-350.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 10 angstroms per second;
- 300.degree. C.-400.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 20 angstroms per second;
- 300.degree. C.-440.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 30 angstroms per second;
- 315.degree. C.-475.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 40 angstroms per second;
- 325.degree. C.-500.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 50 angstroms per second; and
- 350.degree. C.-515.degree. C. when the deposition rate is 60 angstroms per second.
- 4. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of introducing a process gas having at least silicon comprises introducing a process gas further including germanium.
- 5. A method at in claim 1 wherein the process gas further includes a member selected from the group consisting of halogens, Group III elements, Group V elements, and combinations thereof.
- 6. A method as in claim 1, wherein the process gas includes a member selected from the group consisting of SiH.sub.4, S.sub.2 H.sub.6, SiF.sub.4, and combinations thereof with GeH.sub.4 or GeF.sub.4.
- 7. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of inputting a preselected power level of electromagnetic energy comprises inputting microwave energy.
- 8. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of inputting a preselected power level of electromagnetic energy comprises inputting radio frequency energy.
- 9. In a method for the manufacture of a photovoltaic device of the type including an intrinsic layer of a hydrogenated, silicon containing semiconductor material interposed between oppositely doped layers of semiconductor material, wherein said intrinsic layer is deposited by a glow discharge deposition process which comprises:
- providing a deposition system having a plasma region defined therein, said system including means for introducing a preselected process gas thereinto and a source of electromagnetic energy for activating the process gas in the plasma region to form a plasma therefrom;
- supporting a substrate in the deposition system;
- introducing a process gas including hydrogen and at least silicon therein, into said system;
- maintaining the process gas at a process pressure which is less than atmospheric;
- inputting a preselected power level of electromagnetic energy into the process gas so as to create a plasma from, and decompose, the process gas into deposition species which deposit a layer of a hydrogenated, silicon containing, semiconductor alloy material on the substrate, at a deposition rate corresponding to said power level, wherein the improvement comprises in combination: maintaining the substrate at a preselected temperature which has been determined to be positively correlated with the deposition rate and which is high enough to impart sufficient kinetic energy to the layer to activate she removal of undesirable morphologies therefrom, but low enough to prevent degradation of the layer caused by loss of hydrogen.
RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 907,750 filed Jun. 29, 1992, abandoned in favor of continuation application Ser. No. 185,309, filed Jan. 21, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,853.
US Referenced Citations (19)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
58-57757 |
Apr 1983 |
JPX |
62-279304 |
Dec 1987 |
JPX |
1-152765 |
Jun 1989 |
JPX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
907750 |
Jun 1992 |
|