Patent ID: 7464663

Claim:
A thin-film silicon chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system, comprising: a deposition chamber having a pair of RF electrodes, wherein the deposition chamber is configured to have a workpiece substrate positioned therein, wherein a first of the pair of RF electrodes is positioned above the workpiece substrate and a second of the pair of RF electrodes positioned below the workpiece substrate; a silane input positioned between the pair of electrodes and running a length of the deposition chamber adapted to inject a silane gas into a hydrogen plasma cloud proximate said workpiece substrate and to roll said hydrogen plasma cloud into a coaxial vortex along a length of the workpiece substrate; wherein said silane input comprises a first series of gas injector jets positioned in said deposition chamber; and a second series of gas injector jets positioned in said deposition chamber; wherein the first series of gas injectors and the second series of gas injectors are positioned to roll said hydrogen plasma cloud into a coaxial vortex along a length of the workpiece substrate; a dopant input device adapted to inject p-type impurities, n-type impurities, or no impurities into said deposition chamber during operation and to provide for alternative depositions of p-type, n-type, and intrinsic silicon layers, respectively, on said workpiece substrate; and an exhaust system positioned between the pair of electrodes and running the length of the deposition chamber adapted to remove a deposition gas mixture from the deposition chamber to draw off excess hydrogen to aid in rolling said hydrogen plasma cloud into a coaxial vortex along the length of the workpiece substrate; wherein, such provide for a controlled pressure and a consistent concentration of said silane gas in said hydrogen plasma cloud during operation and recirculates said deposition gas mixture to create a consistent concentration of said silane gas for rolling said hydrogen plasma cloud into the coaxial vortex along the length of the workpiece substrate during operation.