Growth and properties of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with different substrate temperatures

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin films were deposited by an radio frequency (RF) (13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures (100–300 °C), and the influences of substrate temperature on the growth and properties of μc-Si:H thin films were investigated. Surface roughness and crystallinity of the thin films increase as substrate temperature increases. And all thin films are at the transition region (X _c = 49.2 %~61.0 %). The μc-Si:H thin films deposited at lower substrate temperature (≤200 °C) represent a weak (220) preferred orientation, while the thin films deposited at higher substrate temperature (≥250 °C) exhibit a weak (111) preferred orientation. The μc-Si:H thin films have a dense structure, and the structural compactness of the thin films slightly increases with substrate temperature increasing. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results indicate that the μc-Si:H thin films have a low hydrogen content (3.9 at%–5.6 at%), which is in favor of reducing light-induced degradation effect.