a Study of Electrical, Optical and Structural Properties of R.F Sputtered and Ion Beam Sputtered Silicon Films.

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. The optical and electrical properties of SiO _{rm x} films prepared by R. F. sputtering and ion beam sputtering have been studied. The R. F. sputtered a-Si(x = 0) films have been shown to be porous so that the electrical behaviour is affected by adsorbed water vapour. The conductivity--temperature dependence of outgassed a-Si films and the optical energy gap have been measured. Thermopower measurements show these films to be n-type. The effect of mixed O _2:Ar sputtering gas on film properties has been measured--the x value of the resulting SiO _{rm x} film being measured from the infrared spectrum. Similar measurements of conductivity and breakdown strength on post-oxygenated films have also been made. The conductivity of as deposited IBS films deposited at different substrate temperatures or post annealed has been measured. The conductivity mechanism in R. F. films is a three stage process involving activation energies DeltaE, DeltaE _{rm h1}, Delta E_{rm h2} attributed to extended state, tail state and localised state processes. A comparison of ion beam sputtered and R. F. sputtered films shows the ion beam sputtered films to be less disordered than R. F. sputtered films as far as electrical measurements are concerned.