Patent ID: 7544625

Claim:
A method for forming a silicon oxide (SiOx) thin-film with embedded nanocrystalline silicon (Si), the method comprising: providing a substrate; depositing SiOx, where x is in the range of 1 to 2, overlying the substrate, using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) high density (HD) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process as follows: supplying power to a top electrode at a frequency in the range of 13.56 to 300 megahertz (MHz), and a power density of up to 10 watts per square centimeter (W/cm 2 ); supplying power to a bottom electrode at a frequency in the range of 50 kilohertz to 13.56 MHz, and a power density of up to 3 W/cm 2 ; using an atmosphere pressure in the range of 1 to 500 mTorr; supplying an oxygen source gas and a silicon precursor; and, forming an SiOx thin-film embedded with nanocrystalline Si.