Structural and electronic characterization of β-SiC films on Si grown from mono-methylsilane precursors

This paper presents the results of an in-depth investigation into the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) growth of β-SiC on Si from H3SiCH3 precursors. In agreement with previous work, we find an onset of CVD growth at substrate temperatures in the order of 750–800 °C. Higher temperatures lead to exponentially increasing growth rates until diffusion limitations set in at about 1000 °C. The highest quality films, with structural characteristics typical of single-crystal material, were deposited at about 1050°C. Substrate pretreatments, except for a pre-deposition HF dip, had surprisingly little influence on the crystal quality. Films deposited at substrate temperatures lower than 1000°C exhibited substantially broader IR absorption peaks and a higher degree of misorientation than those deposited at high temperature.