Stopping the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) once and maintaining the film in a vacuum for 30 s were performed. This was done several times during the formation of a film of i-layer microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) used in thin-film silicon tandem solar cells. This process aimed to reduce defect regions which occur due to collision with neighboring grains as the film becomes...

We present preliminary results on a microfabrication approach to enable the integration of high yield, uniform, and preferential growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes ~VACNTs! on low-stress micromechanical structures using a combination of ‘‘electron-beam crosslinked’’ poly~methylmethacrylate! surface nanomachining and direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of electric...

The growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes using a direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system is reported. The growth properties are studied as a function of the Ni catalyst layer thickness, bias voltage, deposition temperature, C2H2:NH3 ratio, and pressure. It was found that the diameter, growth rate, and areal density of the nanotubes are controlled by the initial ...

Microstructures of well-aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes grown on patterned nickel nanodots and uniform thin films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition have been studied by electron microscopy. It was found that growth of carbon nanotubes on patterned nickel nanodots and uniform thin films is different. During growth of carbon nanotubes, a nickel particle sits at the tip of each nanot...

The use of the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition techniques have increased during the last decades. PECVD attractiveness, basically due to the lowering of the substrate temperatures, has enlarged its uses because it allows an action of ions or excited species. However, the choice of the reactors is not always easy. After presenting the main domains of applications of the PECVD technique...

Several methods have been reported in the literature for the synthesis of silicon nanowires (SiNW) [1,2]. Among these, the most widely used has been chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [3, 4]. Gold has been generally used in this process because the Au-Si system has a low eutectic temperature and with a silicon–rich eutectic composition. As a consequence, the synthesis process can take place at tem...

The quenching of the photoluminescence of Si nanopowder grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition due to pressure was measured for various gases ~ H2, O2, N2, He, Ne, Ar, and Kr! and at different temperatures. The characteristic pressure, P0, of the general dependence I(P) 5 I0 exp( 2 P/P0) is gas and temperature dependent. However, when the number of gas collisions is taken as the var...