Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5358709 | Applied Surface Science | 2014 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
Thin SiC films were grown on (1 0 0) Si substrates at temperatures from 400 to 1000 °C under various CH4 pressures by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique using a KrF excimer laser. After deposition, films were in situ annealed at their deposition temperature under 500 mbar of CH4 for 1.0-1.5 h. X-ray reflectivity investigations showed that films exhibited mass densities similar to SiC single crystal samples, while symmetrical and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction investigations found that films deposited at 800 °C or higher substrate temperatures were nanocrystalline. Modeling of spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements indicated that the refractive index values were similar to those reported for bulk SiC, while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigations found that films contained in bulk a relatively low oxygen concentration of around 1.0 at.%. Nanoindentation results showed that the deposited SiC films were very hard, with hardness values above 40 GPa for films deposited at temperatures higher than 800 °C.
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Authors
G. Socol, A.C. Galca, D. Craciun, M. Hanna, C.R. Taylor, E. Lambers, V. Craciun,