Deposition of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon using a graphite filament in the hot wire chemical vapor deposition technique

The use of a graphite filament in the “hot wire” chemical vapor deposition technique is demonstrated to produce “state-of-the-art” intrinsic and doped (p- and n-) amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) material and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) materials. Preliminary p-i-n type solar cells have led to a conversion efficiency of >8.5%. The filament is found to be rugged and remains intact even after deposition of ∼500 μm in thickness. This is in contrast to the use of conventional filament materials, such as W or Ta, whose longevity is limited to less than a few microns of deposition. Unlike the case of a Ta filament, the deposition rate remains constant with the use of a graphite filament.