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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
A method for monitoring the evolution of the crystallinity during the deposition of thin hydrogenated silicon films by using in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry is presented. The crystallinity of the topmost 10-20 nm of a film is derived from the analysis of the shape of ellipsometric spectra in the UV range. The values are closely related to parameters of the deposition process and in good agreement with Raman scattering results. Examples of different kinds of microcrystalline silicon films are shown. Improvements of the time resolution and/or accuracy are discussed. The method turns out to be well suited for process control.