Abstract
Silicon carbide (SiC) films were prepared by single and dual-ion-beamsputtering deposition at room temperature. An assisted Ar+ ion beam (ion energy Ei = 150 eV) was directed to bombard the substrate surface to be helpful for forming SiC films. The microstructure and optical properties of nonirradicated and assisted ion-beam irradicated films have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman spectra. TEM result shows that the films are amorphous. The films exposed to a low-energy assisted ion-beam irradicated during sputtering from a-SiC target have exhibited smoother and compacter surface topography than which deposited with nonirradicated. The ion-beam irradicated improves the adhesion between film and substrate and releases the stress between film and substrate. With assisted ion-beam irradicated, the density of the Si–C bond in the film has increased. At the same time, the excess C atoms or the size of the sp2 bonded clusters reduces, and the a-Si phase decreases. These results indicate that the composition of the film is mainly Si–C bond.
Highlights
Amorphous semiconductor alloys are of technological importance for electronic and optoelectronic device application
These results indicate that low-energy ion-assisted growth improves the adatom mobility, which is attributed to the distribution of nonequilibrium phonon on surface
The microstructure and optical properties of nonirradicated and assisted ionbeam irradicated films have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman spectra
Summary
Amorphous semiconductor alloys are of technological importance for electronic and optoelectronic device application. Plasma-assisted deposition methods such as plasma enhanced CVD [3, 4], electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) [5, 6], the conventional physical vapour deposition methods (magnetron sputtering [7, 8], pulsed laser deposition [9, 10]), ion implantation [11], and molecular beam epitaxy [12] methods have been used to grow SiC films on Si substrate. The effect of a low-energy assisted-ion bombardment during deposition on the film properties has been investigated
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