Growth and characteristics of polycrystalline 3C–SiC films for extreme environment micro/nano-electromechanical systems

This paper presents the growth conditions, physical, chemical, mechanical and optical characteristics of polycrystalline 3C–SiC films for extreme environment micro/nano-electromechanical systems (M/NEMS). The growth of the polycrystalline 3C–SiC thin film on oxidized Si wafers was carried out by using atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) with a single-precursor of hexamethyldisilane (HMDS: Si2(CH3)6). The growth temperature and the HMDS flow rate were adjusted from 1000 to 1200 °C and from 6 to 8 sccm, respectively. The effect of H2 carrier gas addition was also evaluated to reduce surface roughness and improve mechanical properties. The grown polycrystalline 3C–SiC films grown in this work had very good crystal quality without twins, defects, or dislocations. Therefore, it is expected to have applications in harsh environment, RF and bio M/NEMS devices.