Influence of ar flow rates on the microstructure and optical/electrical properties of μc-Si thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

A series of μc-Si films with different flow rates of Ar were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method, the influence of Ar flow rates on the micro-structure and the optical/electrical properties of the film were analyzed. The result shows that the sample reach a high growing rate under a low level of Ar gas flow rate. Not only the grain size and crystallization rate but the membrane micro-surface roughness also show a better growing situation. Meanwhile, the optical properties of the films show significantly change and the visible light transmittance decreased during the long wavelength range. The minority carrier lifetime of the films present a trend of rises firstly and then diminishes obviously as the Ar flow rates increasing. ©, 2015, Rengong Jingti Xuebao/Journal of Synthetic Crystals. All right reserved.