High Rate Preparation of a-Si:H by Reactive Evaporation Method

A high rate deposition method of a-Si: H based on reactive evaporation is described. a-Si: H prepared at a deposition rate of 30 Å/sec has much the same photoconductivity as films prepared by the glow discharge (GD) method. It is revealed that silicon oxidation due to residual oxygen gas is suppressed using a method of silicon evaporation to supply hydrogen ions. H2 + is essentially a dominant species. Dark conductivity of a-Si:H decreases monotonically with increasing hydrogen content.