Preparation and characterization of amorphous SiC:H thin films

Abstract

Silicon carbide films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition utilizing monomethylsilane (CH3SiH3). Silicon (100) and polycrystalline gold were used as substrates. A mass spectrometric analysis of the monomethylsilane plasma showed that the majority of the Si–C bonds were preserved in the gas phase. The composition, the density and morphology of the amorphous SiC:H (a:SiC:H) films were studied as a function of substrate temperature, composition of the ion flux bombarding the surface and the kinetic energy of these ions. The surface science techniques utilized for these investigations include x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and Raman spectroscopies.

Dependence of chemical composition and bonding of amorphous SiC on deposition temperature and the choice of substrate

“…and T650_OX were very close at around 0.88. All the films are carbon rich, contrary to what was reported by other groups [15,16], demonstrating that film composition is process dependent, though the same precursor MS was used. The oxygen atomic concentration in a-SiC deposited on Si substrate was higher than that deposited on oxide covered Si substrate at constant deposition conditions and the difference was minimized with increasing deposition temperature.…”

“…The incorporation of H 2 during the deposition can either widen or narrow the optical energy gap of deposited SiC films [17][18][19]. The composition and chemical bonds of a-SiC prepared from MS had been reported [15,16], however, the employed deposition method was plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) rather than standard low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD). In this paper, the deposition of a-SiC is performed using MS as a single precursor (without dilution gas) in a standard LPCVD reactor at medium deposition temperatures, and the aim is to investigate the dependence of chemical composition and bonding of a-SiC on deposition temperature and the choice of substrate.…”

“…The commonly employed precursor sources for the deposition of a-SiC are the gas mixtures of SiH 4 + CH 4 [1,7] and H 2 + SiH 4 + C 2 H 4 [4], as well as single precursor methylsilane [14][15][16] (H 3 SiCH 3 , MS). Comparatively, single source precursor MS, containing directly bonded Si and C atoms, has the advantage of a simpler and the possibility of a more efficient chemical vapour deposition process.…”

Evolution of element distribution at the interface of FTO/SiO x C y films with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

“…2c) in the diffusion layer: one with BE of 100.29 eV is bonded with C element and labeled as "Si C 2p". Delplancke et al [28] have found that the binding energy of Si2p in SiC 1.3 , SiC 1.5 and SiC 1.7 is about 100.10À 100.30 eV by XPS. The other one with BE of 98.98 eV is bonded with O element and labeled as "Si O 2p", which is in agreement with other results (98.70À98.90 eV) [29].…”

Prospects of chemical vapor grown silicon carbide thin films using halogen-free single sources in nuclear reactor applications: A review

“…Since, SiC is the main barrier for gaseous and metallic fission product release. However, recent literatures 112 reveal that the formation of different isotopes of Si on the SiC crystal structure 113 during the CVD 47 Ar-Plasma CVD RT, exposure to HCl to 1073 K (a-SiC) 48 ULP-CVD LT SiC(001) 49 CVD RT and H 2 annealing (a-SiC) 50 HW-CVD 1073 K (polycrystalline-SiC) 48 Filament temperature: 2273 K; T s 5 573 K; 75 Pa (b-SiC) 51 HW-CVD 1873; 573 K (b-SiC) 52 LPCVD and PECVD 1023 K (a-SiC) 53 92 1,3-disilabutane HVCVD 723-1423 K; ,3 Â 10 À7 mbar (b-SiC) 93 1,3-disilabutane CVD 1073-1273 K; 10 À4 and 10 À5 Torr (b-SiC) 94 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)benzene PECVD 573 K (a-SiC) 95 Silacyclobutane LPCVD 1073-1473 K 96 1, manufacturing process and after transmutation due to irradiation may affect the integrity of the SiC layer. Among them, when 28 Si or 29 Si atoms absorb a thermal neutron, they are changed into other stable silicon atoms.…”