Rau, B.; Sieber, I.; Schneider, J.; Muske, M.; Stöger-Pollach, M.; Schattschneider, P.; Gall, S.; Fuhs, W.: Low-temperature Si epitaxy on large-grained polycrystalline seed layers by electron-cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition. Journal of Crystal Growth 270 (2004), p. 396-401
10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2004.07.034
Abstract:
The epitaxial thickening of polycrystalline Si films on glass substrates is of great interest for the realization of crystalline Si thin film solar cells and other large-area thin film devices. In this paper we report on the epitaxial growth of Si at temperatures below 600 degreesC on polycrystalline seed layers using electron-cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition. The Si seed layers were prepared by aluminum-induced crystallization. The quality of the ECRCVD-grown films strongly depends on the orientation of the underlying seed layer grains. Due to a mainly favorable orientation of the seed layers more than 73% of the substrate area were epitaxially thickened. It turned out that a (100) preferential orientation is favorable for epitaxial thickening. This, however, is not the only requirement for successful low-temperature epitaxial growth of Si.