Electron-diffraction study of chemical ordering in glow-discharge a-Si1−xCx:H

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Abstract
Energy-filtered electron-diffraction data were collected from a range of plasma-deposited amorphous hydrogenated silicon-carbon alloy films at high and low substrate temperature with and without hydrogen dilution of the active gases (silane and methane). The data were Fourier transformed to a reduced density function which was compared with the predictions of three versions of a recently published tetrahedron model of the structure of tetrahedrally bonded amorphous binary alloys. For nearly equiatomic material prepared at 300 °C with hydrogen dilution a completely chemically ordered structure was obtained, described as amorphous tetrahedral silicon carbide. Films prepared under other conditions were described as partially chemically ordered. Substrate heating and hydrogen dilution of the plasma both tend to promote order and result in a reduced carbon content.