Growth of epitaxial β-SiC films on silicon using solid graphite and silicon sources

Abstract

Epitaxial β-SiC films have been grown on mirror-polished Si(111) substrates using bias-assisted hot filament chemical vapor deposition at a substrate temperature of 1000°C. A graphite plate was used as the carbon source, and the silicon source came from the silicon substrate itself. The gas phase in the system is hydrogen only. Atomic hydrogen produced by hot filaments reacted with the graphite to form hydrocarbon radicals, which further reacted with the silicon substrate and deposited as β-SiC. The effect of negative bias applied to the substrate is the key factor for epitaxial growth. Under the growth conditions without the negative bias applied, only polycrystalline β-SiC was obtained.