LOW-PRESSURE CHEMICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION OF SILICON-CARBIDE FROM DIETHYLSILANE

This study investigates the use of diethylsilane as a single precursor to synthesize by low pressure chemical vapor deposition of amorphous SiC films. At 700-degrees-C, the deposition rate was observed to vary linearly with flow rate and pressure while the stoichiometry of the deposits showed little deviation from a composition of Si0.6C0.4. In the 600 to 700-degrees-C range, the growth rate was observed to follow an Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy of 41 kcal/mol. The elemental composition became progressively richer in carbon as the deposition temperature increased. The films were found to remain amorphous until the deposition temperature of 850-degrees-C where the onset of crystallinity to a beta-SiC phase occurred. While remaining tensile for all deposition conditions, the hardness and Young's modulus of the amorphous films increased with higher temperatures reaching values of 33 and 250 GPa near the stoichiometric composition.