Growth of high-quality 3C-SiC epitaxial films on off-axis Si(001) substrates at 850 °C by reactive magnetron sputtering
- 8 August 1994
- journal article
- letter
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 65 (6) , 725-727
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.112212
Abstract
Single crystal 3C‐SiC films of thickness ∼10 μm were grown by reactive magnetron sputtering on off‐axis Si(001) at 850 °C. The film quality was comparable to the best chemical vapor deposited 3C‐SiC as characterized by x‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and photo‐ luminescence (PL). The lattice mismatch and difference in thermal contraction between SiC and Si resulted in complete arrays of misfit dislocations at the film/substrate interface and a residual in‐plane strain of (−6.9±1)×10−4, respectively. The full width at half‐maximum (FWHM) of the 3C‐SiC(004) peak was 59 arcsec in ω‐2θ direction. The structural defects in the SiC film were planar faults on {111} planes and no voids or plastic deformation in the Si substrate were observed. PL spectra of SiC films showed characteristic appearances with N bound‐exciton (N‐BE) lines with a FWHM value of 3.4 meV. The deposition conditions leading to low defect‐density 3C‐SiC films are discussed in terms of low‐energy ion‐surface interactions.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Influence of an external axial magnetic field on the plasma characteristics and deposition conditions during direct current planar magnetron sputteringJournal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, 1994
- Relaxation and mosaicity profiles in epitaxial layers studied by high resolution X-ray diffractionJournal of Crystal Growth, 1994
- X-ray diffraction from low-dimensional structuresSemiconductor Science and Technology, 1993
- Growth of epitaxial 3C-SiC films on (111) silicon substrates at 850 °C by reactive magnetron sputteringJournal of Applied Physics, 1993
- Influence of temperature on the formation by reactive CVD of a silicon carbide buffer layer on siliconPhysica B: Condensed Matter, 1993
- Photoconductivity of single-crystal 3C-SiC films excited by ultrashort light pulsesSemiconductor Science and Technology, 1992
- Composition and structure of epitaxial β-SiC films grown by reactive magnetron sputtering on Si(100) substratesMaterials Science and Engineering: B, 1992
- Photoluminescence characterization of cubic SiC grown by chemical vapor deposition on Si substratesJournal of Crystal Growth, 1990
- Epitaxial growth and doping of and device development in monocyrstalline β-SiC semiconductor thin filmsThin Solid Films, 1989
- Antiphase-domain-free growth of cubic SiC on Si(100)Applied Physics Letters, 1987