Growth of Epitaxial 3C-SiC Films on Si(100) via Low Temperature SiC Buffer Layer

Abstract

The epitaxial growth of 3C-SiC films on Si(100) substrates is demonstrated using a two-step chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. A thin (50 nm) SiC buffer layer grown at 925 °C using 1,3-disilabutane is shown to enable the growth of a high crystalline quality epitaxial 3C-SiC film using methyltrichlorosilane at 1200 °C. The ability to deposit high-quality epitaxial film is traced to the suppression of void defects and to the improvement in film adhesion obtained by the deposition of the buffer layer at low temperature.

Optimization of growth parameters for growth of high quality heteroepitaxial 3C–SiC films at 1200°C

“…Because the Raman peak is narrower and the XRD peak is wider we assume that we obtained at least a comparable crystalline quality even though the growth temperature of our layers was lower by 180°C. Lien et al [12], Attolini et al [20] and Shi et al [21] reported growth at 1200°C. At comparable layer thicknesses their FWHM values are higher than the ones reported in this work which indicates worse crystalline quality of the layer.…”

“…At comparable layer thicknesses their FWHM values are higher than the ones reported in this work which indicates worse crystalline quality of the layer. Lien et al [12], Bosi et al [19] and Roh et al [22] refer to their layers as high quality 3C-SiC in terms of low FWHM values of the XRD (200) peak and of the Raman LO-and TOmode. Considering this, one can say, that the layers grown in this work may be designated as high quality 3C-SiC.…”

“…By the addition of chlorine into the gas phase, the growth temperature can also be reduced. The latter can be done either by adding HCl [11] or by the use of chlorine based precursors like methyl-trichlor-silane [12,13] at growth temperatures of 1000°C and 1200°C, respectively.…”

AlN thin films grown on epitaxial 3C–SiC (100) for piezoelectric resonant devices

“…The void defects with trapezoid shape at the 3C-SiC/Si interface are due to silicon outdiffusion. 16 As shown in Fig. 3͑b͒, the AlN seed layer and textured AlN layer can be identified in the bright field ͑BF͒ TEM image.…”

SiC coatings grown by liquid injection chemical vapor deposition using single source metal-organic precursors

“…For instance, 1,3-disilabutane (DSB) [11,12] and polysilaethylene (PSE) [13,14] have been used in low pressure CVD processes in the temperature ranges of 923-1198 K and 1148-1273 K, respectively, and using inert gas (N 2 or Ar) or H 2 as carrier gas (Table 1). These two precursors are liquid at room temperature and exhibit a sufficient volatility, although relatively low in the case of PSE when the number of [Si\C] units is near 8 ( Table 2).…”