Epitaxial Deposition of SiC onto 4H SiC using a Hollow Cathode

Abstract

Thin films of SiC were deposited using DC, RF and pulsed sputtering of a hollow cathode. The majority of the films were deposited using RF sputtering at temperatures ranging from 610 to 858 o C. Initial films were deposited onto Si substrates in order to determine deposition rates, film uniformity, and film composition. The introduction of a rotating substrate holder greatly improved the film thickness and composition uniformity. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, optical absorption, and infrared ellipsometry. The initial films were polycrystalline in nature independent of the substrate used for deposition. The 4H/3C polytype ratio increases strongly for elevated substrate temperatures for the films which were grown homo-epitaxially on 4H SiC. This observation suggests a new avenue for homo-epitaxial growth of SiC onto 4H SiC and rapid hollow cathode sputtering is envisioned for the growth of single crystal films of 4H SiC for future device applications.

The Deposition of 3C-SiC Thin Films onto the (111) and (110) Faces of Si Using Pulsed Sputtering of a Hollow Cathode

“…Hollow cathode deposition of other semiconductors in this laboratory has been discussed in previous works [8][9][10] and the vacuum system used in this experiment has been described elsewhere [9].…”