Abstract
In this study, the Ar plasma treatment was used to improve the surface roughness of Poly-Si1-xGex thin film deposited by RTCVD. The surface roughness and the resistivity of Si1-xGex thin film were investigated with variation of Ar plasma treatment parameters (electrode distance, working pressure, time, substrate temperature and R.F power). When the Ar plasma treatment was used, the cluster size decreased by the surface etching effect due to the increasing surface collision energy of particles (ion, neutral atom) in plasma under the conditions of decreasing electrode distance and increasing pressure, time, temperature, and R. F power. Although the surface roughness value decreased by the reduction of the cluster size due to surface etching effect, however, the resistivity increased. This may be due to the surface damage caused by the increasing surface collision energy. It was concluded that the surface roughness could be improved by the Ar plasma treatment, while the resistivity was increased by the surface damage on the substrate.