Healing pinhole defects in amorphous silicon films

摘要

A method for healing physical defects in semiconductive films is described. A transparent substrate and semiconductive film are passed to a vacuum chamber in which the film layer is contacted with an activating vapor such as mercury and a depositing vapor such as silane while light is passed through the transparent substrate from the side opposite the film and into the vacuum chamber through any defects in the film. The light activates the mercury vapor and deposits silicon hydride in the defect areas, thus providing a physically healed semiconductive film.