Nano-thick nickel silicide and polycrystalline silicon on glass substrate with low temperature catalytic CVD

30 nm thick Ni layers were deposited on a glass substrate by e-beam evaporation. Subsequently, 30 nm or 60 nm α-Si:H layers were grown at low temperatures (<220°) on the 30 nm Ni/Glass substrate by catalytic CVD (chemical vapor deposition). The sheet resistance, phase, microstructure, depth profile and surface roughness of the α-Si:H layers were examined using a four-point probe, HRXRD (high resolution X-ray diffraction), Raman Spectroscopy, FE-SEM (field emission-scanning electron microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscope) and AES depth profiler. The Ni layers reacted with Si to form NiSi layers with a low sheet resistance of 10/. The crystallinty of the α-Si:H layers on NiSi was up to 60% according to Raman spectroscopy. These results show that both nano-scale NiSi layers and crystalline Si layers can be formed simultaneously on a Ni deposited glass substrate using the proposed low temperature catalytic CVD process.