Formation of nc-Si in SiOx by flash lamp anneling

The formation of nanocrystal silicon (nc-Si) in SiO
_x
is one of the key technologies for the realization of high-quality solar cells. The SiO
_x
films were deposited on a quartz substrate by a reactive sputtering. The Si/O ratio of the SiO
_x
films were changed from 0.56 to 2.07. The nc-Si in SiO
_x
film was characterized by Raman scattering spectroscopy. The Crystalline fractions of all samples after FLA were almost 100%. The size of nc-Si was estimated to 9 nm by Raman peak position. It is shown that the grain size of nc-Si was not changed by the Si/O ratio. On the other hand, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of Raman peak due to crystal phase was changed by the Si/O ratio of SiO
_x
film.