Deposition of nano-crystal silicon using a single wafer chamber

Abstract

Numerous embodiments of a method for depositing a layer of nano-crystal silicon on a substrate. In one embodiment of the present invention, a substrate is placed in a single wafer chamber and heated to a temperature between about 300° C. to about 490° C. A silicon source is also fed into the single wafer chamber.

1 . A method, comprising: 
 positioning a substrate in a single wafer chamber;    heating the single wafer chamber to generate a deposition temperature between about 300° C. to about 490° C.; and    feeding a silicon gas source directed toward a surface of the substrate with a partial pressure between about 0.1 Torr to about 3.5 Torr to form a layer of nano-crystal silicon on the substrate.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a deposition pressure between about 10 Torr to about 350 Torr.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein feeding further comprises adding a nitrogen carrier gas to the silicon source.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said layer nano-crystal silicon comprises an amorphous and discontinuous layer.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the layer of nano-crystal silicon has a density of greater than about 1E10 crystal/cm2 and an average grain diameter of less than about 5 nanometers.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the silicon source comprises silane.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the silicon source comprises disilane.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein heating maintaining the deposition temperature with dual resistive heaters disposed within the single wafer chamber.  
   
   
       9 . An apparatus, comprising: 
 a machine accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, causes the machine to perform operations comprising: 
 generating a deposition temperature between about 300° C. to about 490° C.;  
 generating a deposition pressure between about 10 Torr to about 350 Torr; and  
 feeding a silicon source with a partial pressure between about 0.1 Torr to about 3.5 Torr into the machine to deposit a layer of nano-crystal silicon on the substrate.  
   
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the machine comprises a single wafer deposition chamber.  
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the single wafer deposition chamber comprises: 
 a substrate holder to hold the substrate during nano-crystal silicon deposition;    a gas delivery system to introduce a process gas mix into the single wafer deposition chamber;    a pump coupled to a gas outlet to control the deposition pressure; and    a controller to control the gas delivery system and pump.    
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the layer of nano-crystal silicon is amorphous and discontinuous.  
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the layer of nano-crystal silicon has a density of greater than about 1E10 crystal/cm2 and an average grain diameter of less than about 5 nanometers.