Compact hydrogenated amorphous germanium films by ion-beam sputtering deposition

We explore reactive ion-beam sputtering deposition (IBSD) for the growth of a-Ge:H films. It is shown that compact a-Ge:H films can be obtained by IBSD at substrate temperatures between 180°C and 220°C by minimizing the ion bombardment of the growth surface. The infrared (IR) spectra of the best materials, as far as device applications are concerned, so-far obtained show no poly-hydride nor surface-like contributions to the Ge–H dipole …