Plasma-surface interaction and surface diffusion during silicon-based thin-film growth

Insight into the interaction between plasma and the surface can be obtained from well-defined radical and ion beam studies using advanced surface diagnostics. Therefore, in this paper, a new ultrahigh vacuum setup is presented for a fundamental study of the plasma deposition process of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). A first study of the surface diffusion process of plasma radicals is presented by visualizing the surface roughness evolution of the films as a function of bulk thickness and substrate temperature.