Low-temperature growth of oriented silicon carbide on silicon by reactive hydrogen plasma sputtering technique

Highly oriented beta-SiC film is prepared on (100) Si substrate at 800 degrees C by reactive hydrogen plasma sputtering of a ceramic SiC target. The highly oriented beta-SiC film can be growth on (100) Si substrate without void formation at the SiC film/Si interface. Hydrogen plasma etching of the growing film plays an important role in the growth of the oriented beta-SiC films. Voids at the SiC film/Si interface are formed at a temperature of about 800 degrees C due to the reaction of SiC film with Si substrate. Also, a thin amorphous buffer layer of 5 nm thickness is formed at the SiC film/Si interface. The results of this study indicate that the buffer layer can be eliminated by a suitable surface treatment of Si substrate before film growth.