High temperature annealing of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide thin films

Abstract

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide thin films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on Si substrate at 220 °C with a rf power of 50 W, the high temperature annealing effect on these films was investigated. A wide range of techniques was used to study crystal structure, and relative C/Si content of the films. Nearly stoichiometric polycrystalline 3C-SiC films were obtained from the Si-rich amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide films after high temperature annealing in a vacuum at the temperatures above 1000 °C. With increasing temperature, the polycrystalline film becomes statistically oriented along the (100) plane, but without any obvious epitaxial relation to the Si substrate.