Patent ID: 8884297

Claim:
A manufacturing method of a microcrystalline silicon film, comprising the steps of: forming a first microcrystalline silicon film which comprises a mixed phase grain including a silicon crystallite and amorphous silicon, over an insulating film by a plasma CVD method under a first condition; forming a second microcrystalline silicon film over the first microcrystalline silicon film by a plasma CVD method under a second condition; and forming a third microcrystalline silicon film over the second microcrystalline silicon film by a plasma CVD method under a third condition, after the second microcrystalline silicon film is formed under the second condition, wherein the first condition is a condition in which a deposition gas containing silicon and a gas containing hydrogen are supplied to a treatment chamber as a source gas, the deposition gas is diluted with hydrogen by setting a flow rate of hydrogen at a flow rate greater than or equal to 50 times and less than or equal to 1000 times that of the deposition gas, and a pressure inside the treatment chamber is set higher than or equal to 67 Pa and lower than or equal to 1333 Pa, wherein the second condition is a condition in which a deposition gas containing silicon and a gas containing hydrogen are supplied to a treatment chamber as a source gas, the deposition gas is diluted with hydrogen by setting a flow rate of hydrogen at a flow rate greater than or equal to 100 times and less than or equal to 2000 times that of the deposition gas, and a pressure inside the treatment chamber is set higher than or equal to 1333 Pa and lower than or equal to 13332 Pa, wherein the third condition is a condition in which a deposition gas containing silicon and a gas containing hydrogen are supplied to a treatment chamber as a source gas, the deposition gas is diluted with hydrogen by setting a ratio of a flow rate of hydrogen to a flow rate of the deposition gas at a ratio higher than that in the second condition, and a pressure inside the treatment chamber is set higher than or equal to 1333 Pa and lower than or equal to 13332 Pa, and wherein a rare gas is contained in at least one of the source gas of the first condition, the source gas of the second condition, and the source gas of the third condition.