Characterization of Silicon Carbide Thin Films Obtained Via Sublimation of a Solid Polymer Source Using Polymer-Source CVD Process

Silicon carbide thin films have been deposited via sublimation of a solid organosilane polymer source using atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition process (PS-CVD). The advantages of this new process include high deposition rate, compatibility with batch process, hazard-free working environment and low deposition cost. The silicon carbide (SiC) thin films obtained through this process exhibit a highly uniform film thickness, highly conformal coating, and very high chemical resistance to acids and alkaline solutions. These characteristics make the SiC thin films obtained by PSCVD process very attractive as a structural material for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and as a coating film in a wide range of other applications. These SiC thin films are also expected to be attractive as a semiconductor material provided that the defects, oxygen and nitrogen contaminations can be reduced and effectively controlled. In this work we have investigated the chemical, structural, electrical and optical properties of these films, using scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elastic recoil detection spectroscopy (ERD), ultraviolet-visible photospectroscopy (UV-Vis), ellipsometry, and capacitance-voltage measurements (C-V).