Deposition of SiO2 and TiO2 thin films by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for antireflection coating

Silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide films were deposited at low temperature by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using respectively O-2 and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) or titanium isopropoxide (TIPT) as precursors. To control the thickness and the refractive index during deposition, the plasma reactor was equipped with an in situ spectroscopic ellipsometer. Deposition kinetics and layer properties were investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and chemical etch rate. A double film antireflection coating was fabricated and reflectance was measured using a UV-visible near-infrared spectrometer. Results reported demonstrate that deposition of SiO2 and TiO2 films at low temperature by PECVD is a promising method to produce antireflection coatings for solar cells. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.