Production of amorphous and crystalline silicon nanoclusters by hydrogen enhanced reactive magnetron sputtering within gas aggregation

Abstract

A nanocluster source constituted of: a cooled aggregation chamber; a magnetron arranged to sputter a target, the magnetron in communication with the cooled aggregation chamber such that sputtered atoms of the target are received within the cooled aggregation chamber; a vacuum source in communication with the cooled aggregation chamber; a source of at least one noble aggregation gas in communication with the cooled aggregation chamber; and a source of hydrogen gas in communication with the cooled aggregation chamber. Advantageously, the hydrogen gas prevents oxidation of the target and silicon film covering a cooled inner surface of the aggregation chamber, and reduces the surface tension of the formed nanoclusters.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.