Specific features of morphology and the structure of nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide films grown on a silicon surface

Physics of the Solid State - The composition, surface morphology, and crystal structure of nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide films grown on a silicon surface through chemical conversion from...     

Specific features and mechanisms of photoluminescence of nanostructured silicon carbide films grown on silicon in vacuum

The light-emitting properties of cubic silicon carbide films grown by vacuum vapor phase epitaxy on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates under conditions of decreased growth temperatures (T _gr ∼ 900–700°C) have been discussed. Structural investigations have revealed a nanocrystalline structure and, simultaneously, a homogeneity of the phase composition of the grown 3C-SiC films. Photoluminescence spectra of these structures under excitation of the electronic subsystem by a helium-cadmium laser (λ_excit = 325 nm) are characterized by a rather intense luminescence band with the maximum shifted toward the ultraviolet (∼3 eV) region of the spectral range. It has been found that the integral curve of photoluminescence at low temperatures of measurements is split into a set of Lorentzian components. The correlation between these components and the specific features of the crystal structure of the grown silicon carbide layers has been analyzed.     

Epitaxial growth of cadmium telluride films on silicon with a buffer silicon carbide layer

An epitaxial 1–3-μm-thick cadmium telluride film has been grown on silicon with a buffer silicon carbide layer using the method of open thermal evaporation and condensation in vacuum for the first time. The optimum substrate temperature was 500°C at an evaporator temperature of 580°C, and the growth time was 4 s. In order to provide more qualitative growth of cadmium telluride, a high-quality ~100-nm-thick buffer silicon carbide layer was previously synthesized on the silicon surface using the method of topochemical substitution of atoms. The ellipsometric, Raman, X-ray diffraction, and electron-diffraction analyses showed a high structural perfection of the CdTe layer in the absence of a polycrystalline phase.

     

Limiting step involved in the thermal growth of silicon oxide films on silicon carbide

Thermal growth of silicon oxide films on silicon carbide in O2 was investigated using oxygen isotopic substitution and narrow resonance nuclear reaction profiling. This investigation was carried out in parallel with the thermal growth of silicon oxide films on Si. Results demonstrate that the limiting steps of the thermal oxide growth are different in these two semiconductors, being diffusion limited in the case of Si and reaction limited in the case of SiC. This fact renders the growth kinetics of SiO2 on SiC very sensitive to the reactivity of the interface region, whose compositional and structural changes can affect the electrical properties of the structure.     

Monte Carlo study of the hetero-polytypical growth of cubic on hexagonal silicon carbide polytypes

In this article we use three dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo simulations on super-lattices to study the hetero-polytypical growth of cubic silicon carbide polytype (3C-SiC) on misoriented hexagonal (4H and 6H) substrates. We analyze the quality of the 3C-SiC film varying the polytype, the miscut angle and the initial surface morphology of the substrate. We find that the use of 6H misoriented (4°–10° off) substrates, with step bunched surfaces, can strongly improve the quality of the cubic epitaxial film whereas the 3C/4H growth is affected by the generation of dislocations, due to the incommensurable periodicity of the 3C (3) and the 4H (4) polytypes. For these reasons, a proper pre-growth treatment of 6H misoriented substrates can be the key for the growth of high quality, twin free, 3C-SiC films.     

Magnetoresistance in the cubic modification of silicon carbide

The results of an investigation into the angular and field dependences of the magnetoresistance in the cubic modification of silicon carbide are presented in this paper. From an analysis of the temperature dependence of the Hall mobility of the electrons and the magnetoresistive mobility it is concluded that the magnetoresistance in the specimens under investigation is conditioned by the presence of inhomogeneities.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 90–94, May, 1977.     

Energetics of native point defects in cubic silicon carbide

In this work we present a detailed investigation of native point defects energetics in cubic SiC, using state-of-the-art first principles computational method. We find that, the carbon vacancy is the dominant defect in p-type SiC, regardless the growth conditions. Silicon and carbon antisites are the most common defects in n-type material in Si-rich and C-rich conditions respectively. Interstitial defects and silicon vacancy are less favorite from the energetic point of view. The silicon vacancy tends to transform into a carbon vacancy-antisite complex and the carbon interstitial atom prefers to pair to a carbon antisite. The dumbbell structure is the lowest-energy configuration for the isolated carbon interstitial defect, and the tetrahedral interstitial silicon is a stable structure in p-type and intrinsic conditions, while in n-type material the dumbbell configuration is the stable one. Our results suggest that, in samples grown in Si-rich stoichiometric conditions, native defects are a source of n-doping and of compositional unbalance of nominally intrinsic SiC, in accord with experimental evidence.Received: 9 January 2004, Published online: 28 May 2004PACS: 61.72.Ji Point defects (vacancies, interstitials, color centers, etc.) and defect clusters - 68.55.Ln Defects and impurities: doping, implantation, distribution, concentration, etc. - 74.62.Dh Effects of crystal defects, doping and substitution     

Improvement of cubic silicon carbide crystals grown from solution

Cubic-silicon carbide crystals have been grown from carbon-rich silicon solutions using the travelling-zone method. To improve the growth process, we investigated the effect of controlling more tightly some of the growth parameters. Using such improved growth conditions, our best sample is a 12 mm diameter and 3 mm long 3C–SiC crystal. It is grown on a (0001) 2 off, 6H–SiC seed and has 111-orientation. The low amount of silicon inclusions results in a reduced internal stress, which is demonstrated by the consideration of μ-Raman spectra collected at room temperature on a large number of samples.     

Influence of silicon cluster on epitaxial growth of silicon carbide

Precursor concentration dependences of growth rate, doping concentration and surface morphology have been investigated in the epitaxial growth of 4H-SiC(0001) epilayers with horizontal hot-wall CVD system using various precursor concentrations under constant C/Si ratio. Form the experimental data it is found that silicon cluster which is formed through gas phase nucleation plays an important role in controlling the doping concentration and epitaxial growth rate of the silicon carbide. It was observed that t...     

Photoluminescence of nanostructured cubic-lattice silicon carbide films grown on a silicon wafer

The light-emitting properties of cubic-lattice silicon carbide SiC films grown on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates with VPE at low temperatures (T _gr ∼ 700°C) are discussed. Investigations of the grown films reveal a homogeneous nanocrystalline structure involving only the 3C-SiC phase. When the electron subsystem of the structure is excited by a He-Cd laser emitting at λ_exit = 325 nm, the photoluminescence (PL) spectra contain a rather strong emission band shifted by about 3 eV toward a short-wave spectral region. At low temperatures, the PL integral curve is split into a set of Lorentz components. The relation between these components and the peculiarities of the energy spectrum of electrons in the nanocrystalline grains of the silicon carbide layers is discussed.     

Raman scattering in mosaic silicon carbide films

The Raman spectra of mosaic silicon carbide films grown on silicon substrates by solid-state epitaxy have been studied. The main polytypes forming the film material have been determined. It has been experimentally revealed that the properties of the silicon carbide film are changed after an aluminum nitride film is deposited on the former film. This has been interpreted as a manifestation of good damping properties of the SiC film when layers of other semiconductors are grown on it.     

Nonlinear refraction in nanocrystalline silicon carbide films

Nonlinear refraction in nanocrystalline SiC films, which have been obtained using the method of direct deposition of carbon and silicon ions with an energy of 100 eV at substrate temperatures from 900 to 1150°C, has been investigated. It has been shown that the films exhibit a large third-order nonlinear susceptibility χ ⁽³⁾ ～ 10^?6 esu (at λ = 1064 nm and τ _p = 10 ns).     

Nonlinear-optical and structural properties of nanocrystalline silicon carbide films

The aim of this study is to investigate the nonlinearity of refraction in nanostructured silicon carbide films depending on their structural features (synthesis conditions for such films, substrate temperature during their deposition, concentration of the crystalline phase in the film, Si/C ratio of atomic concentrations in the film, and size of SiC nanocrystals formed in the film). The corresponding dependences are obtained, as well as the values of nonlinear-optical third-order susceptibility χ⁽³⁾(ω; ω, −ω, ω) for various silicon polytypes (3C, 21R, and 27R) which exceed the value of χ⁽³⁾ in bulk silicon carbide single crystals by four orders of magnitude.     

Initial stages of the growth of barium strontium titanate films on a semi-isolating silicon carbide substrate

The initial stages of the growth of ferroelectric barium strontium titanate films on single-crystal silicon carbide substrates have been studied for the first time. The choice of a substrate with high thermal conductivity has been due to the possibility of applying these structures in powerful microwave devices. The temperature ranges separating the mechanism of the surface diffusion of deposited atoms from the diffusion via a gaseous phase during the growth of multicomponent films have been determined. The studies show that the mass transfer by means of surface diffusion leads to the formation of small-height nuclei that cover a large area of the substrate, whereas the mass transfer via a gaseous phase leads to the formation of a “columnar” islandtype structure with small percentage of covering the substrate and larger island heights.     

Formation of cubic silicon carbide layers on silicon under the action of continuous and pulsed carbon ion beams

The structure and infrared absorption of cubic silicon carbide (β-SiC) layers produced by the continuous high-dose implantation of carbon ions (C⁺) into silicon (E=40 keV and D=5×10¹⁷ cm⁻²), followed by the processing of the implanted layers with a high-power nanosecond pulsed ion beam (C⁺, τ=50 ns, E=300 keV, and W=1.0–1.5 J/cm²), are investigated. Transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction data indicate the formation of a coarse-grained polycrystalline β-SiC layer with grain sizes of up to 100 nm. A characteristic feature of such a layer is the dendritic surface morphology, which is explained by crystallization from the melt supercooled well below the melting point of β-SiC.     

The location and shape of the conduction band minima in cubic silicon carbide

We have measured the inter-bound state excitation spectrum of the N_C donor in cubic β-SiC through the ‘two-electron’ transition satellites observed in the luminescent recombination of excitons bound to neutral N donors. Transitions are seen to p as well as s-like donor states although the transition oscillator strength is derived from interaction with the impurity core since parity is conserved through inter-valley scattering by p-like X phonons. The Zeeman splitting of a luminescence line involving the 2p± donor state yield the electron mass parameter m_t = 0.24 ± 0.01 m₀. This and the directly measured energy separations of the 2p₀ and 2p± states yields m_t/m₁ = 0.36 ± 0.01 with the static dielectric constant K = 9.92 ± 0.1. Mutually consistent central cell corrections of 1.1 and 8.4 meV are observed for the 2s(A₁) and 1s(A₁) donor states, the latter being in agreement with a recent estimate from electronic Raman scattering by Gaubis and Colwell. The ionization donor energy of the N_C donor, 53.6 ± 0.5 meV is consistent with earlier, less accurate estimates from donor-acceptor pair and free to bound luminescence. There is no evidence for a ‘camel's back’ conduction band structure in cubic SiC, unlike GaP. The two-phonon sidebands of the N_C donor exciton luminescence spectrum in SiC can be constructed by X and Г phonons only.     

Growth of silicon carbide films via C60 precursors

Epitaxial silicon carbide films are grown on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates at surface temperatures between 950 and 1250 K via c₆₀ precursors. Films have been grown up to thicknesses greater than 1 μm. The growth rate of the SiC film is not limited by the surface reaction rate of C₆₀ with silicon at these temperatures, rather by the arrival rate of the reactants Si (by diffusion) or C₆₀. This results in rapid film growth. Films have been characterized by low energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and Auger depth profiling. X-ray diffraction suggests the growth of β-SiC in the temperature range investigated. Auger depth profiling shows the film is stoichiometric. Selective crystalline silicon carbide growth is achieved on patterned silicon-silicon oxide samples.     

微晶硅薄膜的表面粗糙度及其生长机制的X射线掠角反射研究

采用等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术沉积一系列处于不同生长阶段的微晶硅薄膜.通过同步辐射X射线掠角反射技术研究微晶硅薄膜的表面粗糙度随时间等的演化，探讨微晶硅薄膜的生长动力学过程及其生长机制.研究结果表明，在衬底温度为200 ℃，电极间距为2 cm，沉积气压为6.66×1０² Pa，射频功率密度为0.22 W/cm²，氢稀释度分别为99%和98%的沉积条件下，在玻璃衬底上生长的微晶硅薄膜生长指数β分别为0.21±0.01和0.24±0.01.根据KPZ模型，微晶硅薄膜的生长机制为有限扩散生长. 关键词： X射线掠角反射 微晶硅薄膜 表面粗糙度 生长机制     

碳化硅中点缺陷对热传导性能影响的分子动力学研究

碳化硅(SiC)由于性能优异,已广泛应用于核技术领域.在辐照环境下,载能入射粒子可使材料中的原子偏离晶体格点位置,进而产生过饱和的空位、间隙原子、错位原子等点缺陷,这些缺陷将改变材料的热物性能,劣化材料的服役性能.因此,本文利用平衡分子动力学方法(Green-Kubo方法)采用Tersoff型势函数研究了点缺陷对立方碳化硅(β-SiC或3C-SiC)热传导性能的影响规律.研究过程中考虑的点缺陷包括:Si间隙原子(Si_Ⅰ)、Si空位(Si_Ⅴ)、Si错位原子(Si_C)、C间隙原子(C_Ⅰ)、C空位(C_Ⅴ)和C错位原子(C_Si).研究结果表明,热导率(λ)随点缺陷浓度(c)的增加而减小.在研究的点缺陷浓度范围(点缺陷与格点的比例范围为0.2%—1.6%),额外热阻率(Δ_R-R_defect-R_perfect,R=1/λ,R_defect为含缺陷材料的热阻率,R_perfec...