| abstract |
A solar call is provided along with a method for forming a semiconductor nanocrystalline silicon insulating thin-film with a tunable bandgap. The method provides a substrate and introduces a silicon (Si) source gas with at least one of the following source gases: germanium (Ge), oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon into a high density (HD) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. A SiOxNyCz thin-film embedded with a nanocrystalline semiconductor material is deposited overlying the substrate, where x, y, z≧0, and the semiconductor material is Si, Ge, or a combination of Si and Ge. As a result, a bandgap is formed in the SiOxNyCz thin-film, in the range of about 1.9 to 3.0 electron volts (eV). Typically, the semiconductor nanoparticles have a size in a range of 1 to 20 nm. |