Development of Highly Uniform and Reproducible DI-O3 layers for Photovoltaic Applications and Beyond

We demonstrate the development and characterization of ozonated oxide (DI-O
3
) for applications in photovoltaics and beyond. The growth of DI-O
3
is investigated by varying 1) the sample orientation in a wafer cassette., 2) growth time and 3) ozone concentration in parts-per-million (ppm); while the thickness and uniformity of DI-O
3
layer on the entire 100 mm diameter are characterized by the multi-wavelength ellipsometer equipped with a wafer mapping capability. DI-O
3
samples grown horizontally in the wafer cassette provide better uniformity than vertically grown counterparts (i.e., ±1.62% compared to ±8.02% across 100 mm diameter). A modest increase in DI-O
3
thickness is observed with increasing growth time (i.e., from 1 min to 3 min and 10 min). An average of 0.06 nm and 0.10 nm of DI-O
3
thickness., respectively., is increased when the growth time is increased by 2 min and 7 min. Varying ozone concentration from 3.5 ppm to 15 ppm., on the other hand., is observed with a minimal effect on DI-O
3
growth. Thanks to the growth technique (horizontal orientation and continuous dissolved ozone flow) and parameters (15 ppm., 420 mI/min flow and 30°C of dissolved ozone) used in this contribution., we demonstrate the reproducibility of growing DI-O
3
with 1.53±0.01 nm and < 3% uniformity on multiple 100 diameter wafers.