Fractal analysis of the surface topography is used to study the effects of hydrogen dilution on the surface transport kinetics during the plasma deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Images obtained from atomic force microscopy are examined using dimensional fractal analysis, and surface diffusion lengths of growth precursors are estimated from the measured correlation lengths. The addition of small amounts of hydrogen (H_(2)/SiH_(4) ratios <10/1) during deposition leads to a decrease in the diffusion length, but larger hydrogen dilutions result in increased diffusion length. Moreover, the measured surface diffusion activation barrier is reduced from 0.20 eV for deposition from pure SiH_(4) to 0.13 eV with high hydrogen dilution. Results are consistent with recent models for precursor surface transport during low-temperature deposition, and give insight into critical processes for low-temperature silicon crystallization.
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