Abstract

The structure of a-Si1-xCx:H thin films prepared from different mixtures of SiH4 and CH4 was studied by thermal desorption spectroscopy. The influence of the gas phase composition and the thickness on the hydrogen evolution spectra is presented and discussed. A third hydrogen evolution was observed in a-Si1-xCx films with higher carbon content. The results show that the surface controlled desorption processes become dominant when increasing the carbon content.