Differentiating Plasma Regions Through the non-Linear Relationship between the Band-gap and the Deposition-rate of a-Si Thin Films

a-Si 막의 Band-gap과 Deposition-rate간의 비선형 거동을 통한 플라즈마 영역의 경계 규명

Thin film a-Si solar cells deposited by PECVD have many advantages compared to the traditional crystalline Si solar cells. They do not require expensive Si wafer, the process temperature is relatively low, possibility of scaling up for mass production, etc. In order to produce thin film solar cells, understanding the relationship between the material characteristics and deposition conditions is important. It has been reported by many groups that the band gap of the a-Si material and the deposition rate has an linear relationship, when RF power is used to control both. However, when the process pressure is changed in order to control the deposition rate and the band gap, a diversion from the well known linear relationship occurs. Here, we explain this diversion by the deposition condition crossing different plasma regions in the Paschen curve with a simple model. This model will become a guide to which condition a-Si thin films must be fabricated in order to get a high quality film.