Mechanism and activation energy barrier for H abstraction by H(D) from a-Si:H surfaces

Sumit Agarwal, Saravanapriyan Sriraman, Akihiro Takano, M. C M Van de Sanden, Eray S Aydil, Dimitrios Maroudas

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27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hydrogen atoms are abstracted from the surface of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films by impinging H(D) atoms through an Eley-Rideal mechanism that is characterized by a zero activation energy barrier. This has been revealed by systematic analysis of the interactions of H(D) atoms with a-Si:H films during exposure to an H2(D2) plasma using synergistically molecular-dynamics simulations and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy combined with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Understanding such interactions is of utmost importance in optimizing the plasma deposition of silicon thin films.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)L469-L474
JournalSurface Science
Volume515
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2002

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NSF/DoE Partnership for Basic Plasma Science and Engineering (Awards No. DMR-9713280 and ECS-0078711) and by the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation through Camille Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards to two of the authors (E.S.A. and D.M.). A.T. is supported by the Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Keywords

  • Amorphous surfaces
  • Hydrogen atom
  • Infrared absorption spectroscopy
  • Molecular dynamics
  • Plasma processing
  • Semiconductor-semiconductor thin film structures
  • Silicon
  • Surface chemical reaction

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