DEPOSITION OF HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS-SILICON BY AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED GLOW-DISCHARGE REACTOR WITH SHIELD ELECTRODES

A plasma was produced using an inductively coupled glow discharge method in which electrodes connected to earth were located in the neighborhood of both sides of the rf working coil. The plasma did not vary according to the position of the substrates. The deposition rate and the electrical property of grown hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films, however, depended on the position of the substrate, This was due to the fact that the concentration of H varied much more with position than the concentration of a-Si:H film precursors as the large H flux removes Si atoms from the a-Si:H film surface [F. J. Kampas, J. Appl. Phys. 53, 6408 (1982)].