Trial to control hydrogen content in a-Si:H deposited using rare-gas-diluted silane plasmas

The hydrogen content of a-Si:H films prepared at a fixed substrate temperature varies over a wide range when silane is diluted using a rare gas (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) during PECVD. A possible explanation, based on known differences in the branching ratios on collision of electronically excited rare gas atoms with silane molecules, is suggested.