FILM DEPOSITION OF AMORPHOUS FILMS BY ELECTRON CYCLOTRON RESONANCE

摘要

A method is disclosed for forming a film of an amorphous material, for example amorphous silicon, on a substrate (14), by deposition from a plasma. A substrate is placed in an enclosure having a defined volume, and a film precursor gas, for example silane, is introduced into the enclosure through pipes (20). Unreacted and dissociated gas is extracted from the enclosure through exit (22) so as to provide a low pressure in the enclosure. Microwave energy is introduced into the gas within the enclosure to produce a plasma therein by distribution electron cyclotron resonance, and cause material to be deposited from the plasma on the substrate. The normalised precursor gas flow rate, defined as the precursor gas flow rate, divided by the area of the distributed plasma source, is greater than or equal to 700sccm/m2, and the gas residence time, defined as the volume of the reactor divided by the effective precursor gas pumping rate, is not more than 30ms.