Improved electrical transport properties in high quality nanocrystalline silicon carbide (nc-SiC) thin films for microelectronic applications

•High quality nc-SiC thin films were deposited on Pt coated Si (100) substrate.•AFM micrographs shows micpropipes in SiC thin films.•Nonlinear variation of dielectric constant with dc field was observed in SiC thin films.•A lowest leakage current density of 10−9 A/cm2 was observed.

High quality nanocrystalline silicon carbide (nc-SiC) thin films sputtered deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate were investigated for its crystallinity dependent dielectric properties (εr-f, εr-E) and J–E characteristics. The gain in intensity of highly oriented (105) X-ray reflection evident the improvement in crystallinity of nc-SiC thin films with increase in deposition temperature. An observable enhancement in dielectric properties and reduction in leakage current density (J) with increase in crystallinity was ascribed to enhanced dipole density and reduced micropipe density respectively. A minimum J∼10−9 A/cm2 at 0 kV/cm was observed with increase in the crystallinity of SiC thin films. The conduction mechanism in all nc-SiC thin films endures a transition from low field dominating ohmic conduction to interface limited Schottky emission prevailing at high field (E>60 kV/cm).

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