Investigation of SiC films obtained on a porous-Si/Si substrate

Abstract

The paper describes the method of obtaining the SiC/porous-Si/Si heterostructure and the study of its structural and morphological properties. The method of obtaining heterostructures consisted of several stages: electrochemical etching of single-crystal silicon p-Si (111), annealing of porous Si in a CO atmosphere. The fabricated structures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray spectral microanalysis, X-ray phase analysis, high-resolution diffractometry, X-ray reflectometry, and photoluminescence. The method of high-resolution diffractometry made it possible to assess the state of the SiC/Si(001) system. On the 2Theta-omega diffractograms, in addition to the (111) reflection of the Si substrate in the region of 2 Theta = 35.67, the (111) reflection of the cubic SiC film is observed. This means that the formed SiC film is textured in the (111) growth direction of the silicon substrate. The classical technique of X-ray phase analysis showed the presence of a hexagonal phase in the SiC film. The concentration ratio of cubic to hexagonal phase is 80 % cubic and 20 % hexagonal. The RMS deformation of the lattice (ε) in such a structure is ε = 1∙10–2. The photoluminescence spectra of the SiC films of the experimental samples in most cases consist of narrow and broad bands and extend from the near ultraviolet to the entire visible spectrum. At the same time, in the range of wavelengths corresponding to the energy forbidden zones of hexagonal polytypes and cubic polytypes, a noticeable glow was observed in most of the samples. In some samples, luminescence in the area of hexagonal phases was predominant. In the photoluminescence spectra both at T = 77 K and at T = 300 K, a narrow line at a wavelength of ~ 371 nm is observed.