Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of silicon thin films for large area electronics

In the past 2 years major advances have been made in the understanding of silane-hydrogen plasmas. In particular, the control of the formation of clusters and even crystallites at room temperature has lead researchers to change their approach and to look for plasma conditions where clusters and crystallites contribute to the growth. In addition, hydrogen has become a key element for the growth of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films as it can easily diffuse through the growing layers and induce their crystallization below the surface. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.