Small-angle X-ray scattering from nano-Si embedded a-SiC:H deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) embedded a-SiC:H films were deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) using SiH4, CH4 and H2 gas precursors. The films were characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy to analyze their structural and fractal nature. The analysis of a-SiC:H films indicated the scattering from mass fractal aggregates of amorphous and nanocrystalline domains of nano-Si. The XRD results indicated that the size and crystallite fraction of nanocrystallites decreased with increasing CH4 flow rate. Nc-Si changed from the mass fractal to the surface fractal with increasing CH4 flow rate. The inter-diffusion correlation length between nc-Si embedded a-SiC:H varies from 2.4 nm to 5.7 nm with a CH4 flow rate.

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