Transition between amorphous and crystalline phases of SiC deposited on Si substrate using H3SiCH3

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis paper presents a study of the transition between amorphous and crystalline phases of SiC films deposited on Si(1 0 0) substrate using H 3 SiCH 3 as a single precursor by a conventional low-pressure chemical vapor deposition method in a hot-wall reactor. The microstructure of SiC, characterized by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, is found to vary with substrate temperature and H 3 SiCH 3 pressure. The grain size decreases with increasing MS pressure at a given temperature and also decreases with reducing temperature at a given MS pressure. The deposition rates are exponentially dependent on the substrate temperature with the activation energy of around 2.6 eV. The hydrogen compositional concentration in the deposited SiC films, determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling, is only 2.9% in the nanocrystalline SiC but more than 10% in the amorphous SiC, decreasing greatly with increasing deposition temperature. No hydride bonds are detected by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. The chemical order of the deposited SiC films improves with increasing deposition temperature.

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

“…The results from Fourier transform infrared spectra demonstrated that Si-C bonds were the dominant bonds in the deposited a-SiC films [21], with an absorption peak located at around 750 cm −1 , close to that of single-crystalline SiC (798 cm −1 ). The shift was caused by the alteration in chemical bonding environment in a-SiC.…”

“…2 and can be deconvolved into 1 Based on our previous experimental results (published in Ref. [21]), at a given MS pressure of 0.06 mbar, the microstructure of SiC would transform from amorphous to crystalline states when deposition temperature was set at equal or above 700°C. A temperature increment of 50°C was employed.…”

“…More information on sample label is detailed in Table 1. Microstructure analyses were performed elsewhere by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), indicating that the SiC films deposited on Si substrate under these conditions are amorphous [21,22]. The SiC films deposited on oxide covered substrates are also amorphous in microstructure according to XRD and HRTEM analyses (figures not shown here).…”

Specific contact resistance of ohmic contacts to n-type SiC membranes

“…The epitaxial layers of n-type 3C-SiC were grown on substrates of p-Si <100> in a hot wall low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) reactor at the Queensland Microtechnology Facility, Griffith University [8]. The films of n + -SiC were deposited to a thickness of 0.285, 0.950 or 1.18 μm on both sides of the Si substrate.…”

Application of Ion Beam Induced Chemical Vapor Deposition for SiC Film Formation on Si Substrates using Methylsilane

“…Subsequent various studies [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] also succeeded in producing SiC films on Si using various deposition methods with methylsilane. In those studies [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], methylsilane was selected as a gas source because the methylsilane molecule has a Si-C bond and its stoichiometric composition (atomic concentration ratio of Si to C) is the same as that of SiC. On the other hand, Xu et al reported that the dissociative adsorption of methylsilane onto the Si surface broke the Si-C bond [18].…”