Interaction of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films with transparent conductive films

The effects of the deposition temperature on the interaction of the hydrogenated amorphous silicon films with indium-tin-oxide and tin-oxide films have been investigated in the temperature range 150-300 degrees C, using Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the constituent atoms such as indium and tin are detected in the thin amorphous silicon films deposited. Around the interface between the transparent conductive films and amorphous silicon films the formation of oxidized silicon was also observed. The depth distributions of indium in the amorphous silicon films are strongly dependent upon the deposition temperature while those of tin are almost independent. From results on the observation of the surface morphology of the amorphous silicon films, it has been shown that those depth distributions may be much affected by the initial covering over substrates with the amorphous silicon film