Characterization of Electrical Contacts on Polycrystalline 3C-SiC Thin Films

Abstract

We report on the investigation of electrical properties of polycrystalline 3C-SiC thin films deposited on oxidized Si by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) to obtain bi-layer structures [Si(100)/SiO2/poly 3C-SiC] for pressure sensors and micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) applications. Polycrystalline 3C-SiC films have been preliminary characterized in their compositional, structural, morphological and electrical properties. Moreover, metal contact definition has been carefully optimized by transmission line method (TLM) analyses performed at different temperatures. We focuses the attention on the evaluation of the bulk resistivity (ρ), the specific contact resistivity (ρc) and their behavior dependence on the temperature because these are the characteristics of major importance for the fabrication of pressure sensors or MEMS.