Silicon nanostructures in silicon oxynitride for PV application: effect of argon.

Silicon rich silicon oxynitride (SRSON) were deposited by ECR-PECVD to form silicon nanostructures. The effect of argon flow during the deposition was investigated. The silicon nanoparticles were fabricated by a classical thermal treatment of SRSON films. The structural properties of the SRSON films were investigated by RBS and FTIR measurements. We show that the silicon excess in the SiO_xN_y matrix changes slightly with Ar flow but it has a significant impact on the silicon nanoparticles morphology embedded in the silicon oxynitride layer. Different shapes for silicon nanostructures ranging from separated Si nanocrystals to Si nanocolumns were formed as studied by energy-filtred transmission electron microscopy analysis (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]