The diffusion of Sn into hydrogenated amorphous material, deposited onto a SnO2/glass substrate, was found to be significantly reduced by coating a very thin hydrogenated amorphous Si3N4 layer onto SnO2. It was shown that an 0.3nm-thick hydrogenated amorphous Si3N4 over-layer, which was produced by plasma chemical vapor deposition or photochemical vapor deposition, markedly suppressed reduction reactions on the SnO2 surface during hydrogenated amorphous Si growth. An 0.5nm-thick photochemical vapor deposited nitride layer could completely eliminate Sn diffusion into photochemical vapor deposited hydrogenated amorphous Si.

Y.Shiratsuki, K.Kawabata, M.Sagawa, S.Miyazaki, M.Hirose: Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 1989, 115[1-3], 81-3