Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers
Silicon-carbon (Si-C) thin films play a key role in many technological applications such as hard coatings, high-power electronics, and photovoltaics. In photovoltaics in particular annealed Si-C thin films containing Si quantum dots are used to develop solar cells with improved efficiency. The oxida...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2013
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| _version_ | 1797076283308376064 |
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| author | Schnabel, M Loeper, P Gutsch, S Wilshaw, P Janz, S |
| author_facet | Schnabel, M Loeper, P Gutsch, S Wilshaw, P Janz, S |
| author_sort | Schnabel, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Silicon-carbon (Si-C) thin films play a key role in many technological applications such as hard coatings, high-power electronics, and photovoltaics. In photovoltaics in particular annealed Si-C thin films containing Si quantum dots are used to develop solar cells with improved efficiency. The oxidation of these films during the annealing step, which is unavoidable in the high-throughput processes required for photovoltaics, was explored using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. SiO2 surface layers 5 to 14 nm thick were observed even in nominally inert furnace atmospheres, while annealing with graphitic carriers leads to the formation of SiOxCy films a few nm thick. To avoid the formation of either compound and thereby reduce the impact of the particular furnace used on the Si-C film an encapsulation layer made of a-Si:H was developed. It is shown that 40 nm of this layer can protect an Si-C film from oxidation. The SiO2 and residual Si formed are removed using standard etchants with only minimal impact on the Si-C film. It was found that this process depends critically on the thickness of a-Si:H deposited but is fairly insensitive to the parameters of the etching process. The encapsulation process presented herein is a key step towards the fast large-scale annealing of Si-C films required for photovoltaic applications, and has the potential to greatly simplify the thermal treatment of a wide range of thin films. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:01:52Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:763c56ad-ed63-4a34-b8c4-eaa2701ddc7e |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:01:52Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:763c56ad-ed63-4a34-b8c4-eaa2701ddc7e2022-03-26T20:14:49ZThermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayersJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:763c56ad-ed63-4a34-b8c4-eaa2701ddc7eEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Schnabel, MLoeper, PGutsch, SWilshaw, PJanz, SSilicon-carbon (Si-C) thin films play a key role in many technological applications such as hard coatings, high-power electronics, and photovoltaics. In photovoltaics in particular annealed Si-C thin films containing Si quantum dots are used to develop solar cells with improved efficiency. The oxidation of these films during the annealing step, which is unavoidable in the high-throughput processes required for photovoltaics, was explored using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. SiO2 surface layers 5 to 14 nm thick were observed even in nominally inert furnace atmospheres, while annealing with graphitic carriers leads to the formation of SiOxCy films a few nm thick. To avoid the formation of either compound and thereby reduce the impact of the particular furnace used on the Si-C film an encapsulation layer made of a-Si:H was developed. It is shown that 40 nm of this layer can protect an Si-C film from oxidation. The SiO2 and residual Si formed are removed using standard etchants with only minimal impact on the Si-C film. It was found that this process depends critically on the thickness of a-Si:H deposited but is fairly insensitive to the parameters of the etching process. The encapsulation process presented herein is a key step towards the fast large-scale annealing of Si-C films required for photovoltaic applications, and has the potential to greatly simplify the thermal treatment of a wide range of thin films. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. |
| spellingShingle | Schnabel, M Loeper, P Gutsch, S Wilshaw, P Janz, S Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers |
| title | Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers |
| title_full | Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers |
| title_fullStr | Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers |
| title_short | Thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon-carbon nanolayers |
| title_sort | thermal oxidation and encapsulation of silicon carbon nanolayers |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT schnabelm thermaloxidationandencapsulationofsiliconcarbonnanolayers AT loeperp thermaloxidationandencapsulationofsiliconcarbonnanolayers AT gutschs thermaloxidationandencapsulationofsiliconcarbonnanolayers AT wilshawp thermaloxidationandencapsulationofsiliconcarbonnanolayers AT janzs thermaloxidationandencapsulationofsiliconcarbonnanolayers |