Abstract: Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) intrinsic films and solar cells are prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with various hydrogen dilution ratios.The influence of hydrogen dilution ratios on electrical characteristics is investigated to study the phase transition from amorphous to microcrystalline silicon.During the deposition process,the optical emission spectroscopy (OES) from plasma is recorded and compared with the Raman spectra of the films,by which the microstructure evolution of different H2 dilution ratios and its influence on the performance of μc-Si:H n-i-p solar cells is investigated.

Key words: microcrystalline silicon, structure evolution, thin film silicon solar cells