Synthesis of Nano/Meso-Structured Silicon Films by Plasma Deposition

The characteristics of silicon films deposited by plasma depend strongly on the reactor parameters. In our experiments, the two-level factorial design was implemented. Pressure, silane and hydrogen flows were set at high and low values for the synthesis of silicon films. Results showed that the flows of silane and hydrogen played a key role, being the influence of pressure low. In particular, the samples at high level of hydrogen exhibited the lowest deposition rate and photosensitivity. On the other hand, the samples at low level of hydrogen showed crystalline regions and high deposition rate. For the lowest dilution ratio, nano/meso-structured silicon films were obtained, showing high photosensitivity and high roughness that increases the scattering of light. These characteristics of our films make them suitable to be used in photovoltaics.