Compositional, structural and optical properties of Si-rich a-SiC:H thin films deposited by ArF-LCVD

Silicon-rich amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbon (a-SiC:H) films with C content up to 23% have been grown on Si and Corning glass substrates using ArF laser induced chemical vapor deposition (ArF-LCVD). This technique allows tailoring film composition by controlling deposition parameters such as precursor gas mixture (disilane and ethylene diluted in helium) and substrate temperature (180-400 °C). The influence of both parameters on composition and bonding were studied by Fourier transform infrarred (FTIR) and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The optical gap of these semiconductors deposited at 250 °C varied from 1.6 to 2.4 eV and was determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. An additional analysis by profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been done for determining the deposition rate and the roughness (rms < 6 nm) of the films as well as their surface morphology.