Substrate influence on the properties of doped thin silicon layers grown by Cat - CVD

We present structural and electrical properties for p-type and n-type layers grown close to the transition between a-Si:H and nc-Si:H onto different substrates: Corning 1737 glass, ZnO:Al coated glass and stainless steel. Both crystalline fraction and dark conductivity at room temperature exhibited a transition from a-Si:H to nc-Si:H, which was clearly dependent on the substrate used. Stainless steel seemed to promote crystalline growth for n-type layers whereas glass seemed to enhance crystallinity for p-type material. Electrical conduction in the direction perpendicular to the substrate seemed to be mainly determined by the contacts. In this direction, n-type layers showed a lower resistance value than p-type ones, showing a better contact between the layer and the substrate.