Structural and electrical properties of low-temperature PECVD SiC/c-Si heterostructures

The structural and electrical properties of the SiC/Si heterostructure based on undoped stoichiometric a-SiC:H thin films grown by r.f. plasma chemical vapor deposition at low-temperature (320 °C) on Si(1 0 0) substrates is investigated. The heterostructures were fabricated with films, as deposited and annealed (at 550 °C for 2 h), obtained in the so-called “silane starving plasma” condition from SiH4, CH4 and H2 gaseous mixtures. In order to assess their structural properties these films were examined by XRD and IR absorption measurements. The electrical properties were evaluated from current–voltage characteristic curves. It was found that the heterojunction formed with optimized deposition conditions and a subsequent annealing steps show the best electrical performance, exhibiting good rectifying properties.