Characteristics of polycrystalline 3C-SiC thin films grown on Si wafers for harsh environment microdevices

This paper presents the growth conditions and characteristics of polycrystalline (poly) 3C-SiC thin films for applications related to harsh environments. The growth of the poly 3C-SiC thin film on the oxided Si wafer was carried out by (atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition) APCVD using hexamethyildisilane (HMDS, Si2(CH3)6) precursor. To obtain an optimized growth condition, we have performed depositions under various conditions that temperature adjusted from 1000 to 1200 °C, the HMDS flow rate changed from 5 to 9 sccm, and carrier gas (Ar) kept up 500 sccm. Each sample was analyzed by XRD (X-ray diffraction), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and GDS (glow discharge spectrometer). SEM (scanning electron microscope) was utilized to determine layer density, voids and dislocations of the cross-section. From the results of experiment, we have obtained that temperature and HMDS flow rates of the optimized polycrystalline 3C-SiC thin films growth condition were 1100 °C and 8 sccm, respectively.