Patent ID: 7655542

Claim:
A method of depositing a microcrystalline silicon film layer, comprising: providing a substrate having a surface area greater than about 1 square meters in a process chamber; flowing a gas mixture including a silane-based gas and H 2 gas into the process chamber using a diffuser having a plurality of orifices on a surface of the diffuser, wherein the orifices located in an inner region of the plurality of orifices have higher cavity volumes and densities than the orifices located in an outer region of the plurality of orifices; maintaining a plasma formed from the gas mixture in the process chamber; and depositing a microcrystalline silicon film on the substrate while gradually reducing the ratio of H 2 gas to silane-based gas supplied in the gas mixture and depositing at a deposition rate greater than about 20 nm per minute, wherein the microcrystalline silicon film has a crystallized volume between about 20 percent to about 80 percent.