9-13 July 2012
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
<a href="http://events.saip.org.za/internalPage.py?pageId=11&confId=14"><font color=#ff0000>SAIP2012 PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE</font></a>

Low temperature deposition of silicon nitride thin films by hot-wire CVD

10 Jul 2012, 17:30
2h
IT Building

IT Building

Poster Presentation Track F - Applied Physics Poster Session

Speaker

Mr Abdulghaaliq Adams (Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape)

Apply to be<br> consider for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

Yes

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)

Amorphous silicon nitride (a-Si:N:H) is known for its superior transmission in the visible range and its tuneable optical band gap, which makes it a suitable candidate for anti-reflective coatings in photovoltaic applications. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) is currently the industrial workhorse for a-Si:N:H thin films. However, hot-wire CVD (HWCVD) provides an alternative to PECVD in that it allows for high deposition rates, no ion damage, reduction in cost and ease of up-scaling. This contribution reports on the effect of the ammonia gas (NH3) flow rate on the structural and optical properties of a-Si:N:H thin films deposited by HWCVD at low temperatures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveal that the resultant thin films are non-stoichiometric and silicon-rich (nitrogen deficient), as deduced from the absence of the N-H stretching mode at 3340 cm-1. Furthermore, a reduction in the deposition rate is observed with an increase in the NH3 flow rate, as estimated from the effective-medium approximation simulation of the UV-visible spectra, with its maximum value at 1 nm/sec. The effect of the hydrogen content on the structural integrity of the thin films is also discussed.

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD)?

MSc

Main supervisor (name and email)<br>and his / her institution

Prof. Christopher Arendse, email: cjarendse@uwc.ac.za, Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

Yes

Primary author

Mr Abdulghaaliq Adams (Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape)

Co-authors

Prof. Christopher Arendse (Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape) Dr Gerald Malgas (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) Dr Theophillus Muller (Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape)

Presentation Materials