Growth of amorphous-layer-free microcrystalline silicon on insulating glass substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Using a triode plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system and high ${\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{2}}$ dilution of ${\mathrm{SiH}}_{\mathrm{4}}$ (down to a ${\mathrm{SiH}}_{\mathrm{4}}{\mathrm{/H}}_{\mathrm{2}}$ gas flow ratio of $\text{0.33/99}$ ), amorphous-layer-free $\mathrm{\mu c}$ -Si:H has been successfully grown on insulating glass substrates in the continuous PECVD growth mode. It is demonstrated that an ultrathin layer of such $\mathrm{\mu c}$ -Si:H can serve as a seed layer to facilitate an epitaxial-like growth of $\mathrm{\mu c}$ -Si:H (seeded growth).