Piezoresistive properties of boron-doped PECVD microcrystalline silicon films

The piezoresistive properties of boron-doped PECVD microcrystalline Si films (μc-Si) deposited on SiO2 coated Si, covar or quartz substrates have been investigated. The relations between the gauge factor (G.F.) and doping concentrations as well as the film thickness etc. have been obtained experimentally. The maximum longitudinal G.F. of 25 and 20 are measured for Si and covar substrates respectively. An expression for calculating the G.F. of P-type μc-Si is derived theoretically by use of the splitting model of heavy and light hole band at κ = 0 and the thermionic emission theory. The calculated dependences of G.F. on the doping concentrations, grain size and trap state density agree with with the experimental results, which offer a better understanding of the piezoresistive characteristics of μc-Si or poly-Si, and enable optimized design and fabrication of μc-Si or poly-Si strain gauges