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The effect of radio frequency power on the structural and optical properties of a-C:H films prepared by PECVD

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Abstract

Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films with a designed buffer layer of amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide on the substrates were fabricated by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The effect of radio frequency (RF) power on the structural and optical properties of a-C:H films was investigated. The ratios of sp3 to sp2 of carbon atoms and hydrogen contents in the RF power range of 75–175 W are determined and a similar trend as a function of power. The increase of sp3 to sp2 ratio leads to the increase of transmittance and optical gap of a-C:H films. a-C:H film under an RF power of 175 W possesses high transmissive ability (>80%) in the visible wave length, even the highest transmittance value of about 94.2% is achieved at the wave length 550 nm. These results show the optimal a-C:H films which are promising for the applications in the area of solar cells acting a window layer and antireflection layer.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11374181 and 61604087).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Inorganic Nonmetallic Crystalline and Energy Conversion Materials (CTGU), China Three Gorges University, Yichang, 443002, China

    Yequan Xiao, Xinyu Tan, Lihua Jiang, Ting Xiao & Peng Xiang

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yequan Xiao

  3. Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, 76344, Germany

    Wensheng Yan

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  1. Yequan Xiao
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Correspondence to Xinyu Tan or Lihua Jiang.

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Xiao, Y., Tan, X., Jiang, L. et al. The effect of radio frequency power on the structural and optical properties of a-C:H films prepared by PECVD. Journal of Materials Research 32, 1231–1238 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2016.522

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