Influence of hydrogen, boron, and ion energy on the structure of microcrystalline silicon in plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition

Si films are deposited by electron beam excited plasma CVD. Microcrystalline Si with no preferential orientation is grown at 300/spl deg/C from 100% SiH/sub 4/ without H/sub 2/ dilution. The grain size increases as the substrate temperature increases. The film structure becomes columnar caused by the higher temperature, the B doping, and the decrease of the ion energy. We discuss the influences of the hydrogen injection, the in-situ impurity doping, and the ion energy on the crystalline structures.