Analysis of mechanical properties of N2in situ doped polycrystalline 3C-SiC thin films by chemical vapor deposition using single-precursor hexamethyildisilane

This paper describes the mechanical properties of poly (polycrystalline) 3C-SiC thin films with N2in situ doping. In this work, in situ doped poly 3C-SiC film was deposited by using the atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) method at 1200 °C using single-precursor hexamethyildisilane: Si2(CH3)6 (HMDS) as Si and C precursors, and 0∼100 sccm N2 as the dopant source gas. The mechanical properties of doped poly 3C-SiC thin films were measured by nano-indentation. Young's modulus and hardness were measured to be 285 and 35 GPa at 0 sccm N2, respectively. Young's modulus and hardness decreased with increasing N2 flow rate. Surface morphology was evaluated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) according to N2 flow rate.