Unexpected short- and medium-range atomic structure of sputtered amorphous silicon upon thermal annealing

Haberl, Bianca; Bogle, S. N.; Li, T.; McKerracher, I.; Ruffell, S.; Munroe, P.; Williams, J. S.; Abelson, J. R.; Bradby, J. E.

Unexpected short- and medium-range atomic structure of sputtered amorphous silicon upon thermal annealing

Date

2011-11-07

Authors

Haberl, Bianca

Bogle, S. N.

Li, T.

McKerracher, I.

Ruffell, S.

Munroe, P.

Williams, J. S.

Abelson, J. R.

Bradby, J. E.

Publisher

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Abstract

We investigate the structure of magnetron-sputtered (MS) amorphous silicon(a-Si) prepared under standard deposition conditions and compare this to pure ion-implanted (II) a-Si. The structure of both films is characterized in their as-prepared and thermally annealed states. Significant differences are observed in short- and medium-range order following thermal annealing. Whereas II a-Si undergoes structural relaxation toward a continuous random network, MS a-Si exhibits little change. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of nanopores in the MS film consistent with reduced mass-density. Therefore, the short- and medium-range order of annealed, MS a-Si is tentatively attributed to these pores.