Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin films were deposited on glass by magnetron sputtering at
the substrate temperature of 100 °C and the hydrogen dilution ratio of 65%. The crystallinity and microstructure
of thin films were systematically studied using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transforminfrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results showed that the μc-Si:H
thin filmwas amorphous and hydrogen-rich at the initial stage of the growth. This amorphous layer was crystallized
during further growth. The crystallinity of thin films is not almost changed with the increase of thickness
when the thickness of thin film exceeds 70 nm. Finally, the μc-Si:H thin film without amorphous incubation
layerwas obtained. The possible growth mechanismof fabricating μc-Si:H thin films without amorphous incubation
layers was also discussed.