Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/K04033/01
Title:	IN-SITU SCANN. TUNNELL. MICROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF POLYCRYSTALLINE & AMORPHOUS SILICON RELATED CVD MATS.& INTER.
Principal Investigator:	Milne, Professor WI
Other Investigators:	McKinnon, Dr A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Engineering
Organisation:	University of Cambridge
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 1994	Ends:	30 September 1996	Value (£):	163,640
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Characterisation Surfaces & Interfaces
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The aim of this project is to use STM to investigate thin films of polycrystalline and amorphous silicon and their interfaces with silicon oxide and silicon nitride.The accuracy of previous work to investigate the surface topography, defect density, stability and crystallinity of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon using STM has been seriously inhibited by the need to expose the samples to the atmosphere during transfer from the deposition system to the STM.The UHV system proposed will enable films of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon to be deposited and analysed without breaking vacuum using an in-situ STM. It will therefore be possible to obtain STM information from thin films of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon unclouded by the effects of surface oxidation and cleaning.Under these improved surface conditions, the real-space direct imaging of the STM will provide otherwise elusive details, not only of the atomic co-ordination on the surface of such materials, but also information on the surface defect density, stability, crystallinity and grain size. By analysing films produced using a variety of deposition conditions and post-deposition procedures it will be possible to gain a deeper insight into the factors affecting the growth and optical and electrical of these materials.The interfaces of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon with silicon oxide and silicon nitride are also of great technological importance. A novel combined field effect/AFM technique developed at CUED [1] will be applied to such heterojunctions prepared in-situ to investigate the factors which determine interface quality.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.cam.ac.uk