Bonding and composition diagrams for sputtered a-Si : H

The combined influence of H partial pressure (p_H) and deposition rate (R_D) on Si-H bonding and total H content in diode-sputtered a-Si : H is presented in two simple graphs for the case of substrate temperature (T_s) equal to 225°C. Similar to a phase diagram, the graphs predict the H content and Si-H bonding that will result if a deposition is carried out with any prescribed pair of values (p_H, R_D), where 0.04 < p_H < 10 Paand 0.01 < R_D < 1 nm/sec. Well defined regions of Si-H bonding represented by dominant infrared stretching absorptions at 2000, 2090 and 2150 cm^?1 are obvious in the bonding diagram. The absorption at 2090 cm^?1 is the most commonly observed and is obtainable over a wide range of intermediate values of p_H and R_D. The absorption at 2000 cm^?1 is dominant only for the lowest p_H and the highest R_D. The absorption at 2150 cm^?1 is dominant in films deposited at high p_H and low R_D. The composition diagram shows that highest total H content is obtained for low R_D and high p_H, and lowest total H content results for high R_D and low p_H