Chemical reactions of atomic hydrogen at SiC surface and heterogeneous chemiluminescence Original Research Article

In studies of the surface properties of SiC polytypes and chemical reactions of hydrogen atoms at SiC surfaces the surface (chemi)luminescence of SiC has been applied excited in the reaction of hydrogen atoms due to chemical energy released (heterogeneous chemiluminescence, HCL). The bulk photoluminescence (PL) have also been used for comparison with surface HCL. All the samples showed HCL, but only α-SiC (6H, 15R), technologically or specially doped (predominantly by N, B, Al), exhibited PL (λex=365 nm). Cubic polycrystalline β-SiC (or 3C–SiC) did not show PL. The general luminescence band of α-SiC (6H, 15R) and B and Al doped SiC (6H) was a broad yellow band with λmax ranged from 620 to 650 nm for PL (110 K). Another less intensive luminescence band is a blue one, which has been observed only at low temperatures for α-SiC (6H,15R) and B and Al doped SiC (6H) in PL spectra and as a shoulder in HCL spectra (λmax=477 nm at 110 K for 15R–SiC). The green band near 540 nm was also observed sometimes in PL spectra for α-SiC. The heat of adsorption of hydrogen atoms at polycrystalline β-SiC estimated from HCL data was found to be in the range from 2 to 3 eV.