Amorphous silicon film forming apparatus

Claim 1

An amorphous silicon film-forming apparatus for forming an amorphous silicon film on a drum member, comprising: a sealed vessel having an interior wall which establishes a reaction chamber; gas inlet means for introducing a silicon-containing gas into the reaction chamber; bearer means, including an electrically grounded based, for supporting said drum member; plasma generating means, including an electrode spaced from and surrounding said bearer means so that said electrode establishes a plasma generating region with said base, and power source means for causing an electrical discharge to thereby produce a plasma of said gas in said plasma generating region; and a conductive mesh structure which is disposed in the reaction chamber and surrounds the plasma generating region and the drum member, the portion of the mesh structure facing the outer periphery of the drum member being in the form of a drum and spaced at a constant distance therefrom, and the mesh structure also being separated from said interior wall such that an annular space is defined in said reaction chamber between said mesh structure and said interior wall, wherein said inlet means introduces said silicon-containing gas into said annular space such that said silicon-containing gas surrounds said mesh structure, and wherein a portion of said silicon-containing gas in said annular space enters said plasma generating region through said mesh structure to produce a plasma of said gas and form a film on said substrate, owing to the difference in density between the gas in the annular space and the gas in the plasma generating region, the density of which is reduced by forming the film on the substrate.