High-temperature annealing of silicon suboxide thin films obtained by gas-jet electron beam plasma chemical vapor deposition

Thin films of amorphous nonstoichiometric silicon oxide ( a -SiO _x :H, where 0 < x < 2 ) are synthesized via gas-jet electron beam plasma chemical vapor deposition. The stoichiometric coefficient of the a -SiO _x :H films is varied within a range of 0.47–1.63 as a function of R , determined by the flow rate of the Ar–SiH 4 mixture. High-temperature annealing (at 950°C for 2 h) of a -SiO _x :H thin films causes the formation of crystalline silicon nanoparticles with a size of 8.3–12.3 nm. It is shown that, with an increase in R , the degree of crystallinity of annealed films becomes higher by up to 66