Abstract

The photon-controlled nucleation and growth of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) was investigated on different silicon surfaces. The 7.9 eV photons of a 157 nm F₂ laser initiated the growth process by photolyzing disilane in the gas phase. The short laser pulses allowed a digital control of growth by a small fraction of a monolayer with promt operation and cessation of deposition as monitored by a quartz-crystal microbalance. Mainly the initial stage of growth up to steady state deposition of bulk material was studied yielding information on the binding configuration and structure of the interface region. Fig. 1 shows the experimental setup with the F₂ laser beam in parallel configuration and the IR beam passing the substrate holder through a hole in perpendicular configuration.

© 1997 Optical Society of America