Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films produced at low temperature by the hot wire deposition method

In this letter we report the synthesis of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon at low temperature and without hydrogen dilution of the silane gas by the hot wire method. These films are characterized by higher dark conductivity and larger band gap compared to hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Microcrystallinity in these films is clearly established from the sharp crystalline TO-like peak in the first-order Raman spectra. The crystallite size and its volume fraction show a critical dependence on the silane flow rate.