Fabrication of BN thin films by chemical vapor deposition on 4H-SiC (0001) single-crystalline surfaces

It is vital to understand the BN/SiC interface formation process. In this work, we choose 4H-SiC (0001) single crystalline surfaces as substrates to grow BN thin films by chemical vapor deposition with a borane-ammonia complex precursor. The chemical composition, surface morphology, and crystalline phase of the prepared BN/ 4H-SiC (0001) thin films were comprehensively characterized with XPS, Raman, AFM, SEM and TEM techniques. With the optimized preparation conditions, BN thin films with high crystallinity and low oxygen content (2.8 at %) can be fabricated. Three key factors of pretreatment of precursor, pyrolysis temperature, and post heat treatment have great effect on the growth of BN thin films. The successfully prepared BN/SiC (0001) thin films with the optimized growth conditions provide an ideal model system to study the influence of the various growth parameters on the quality of the BN thin films and the interface structures.