HIGH-QUALITY AMORPHOUS HYDROGENATED SILICON-CARBIDE COATINGS BY REMOTE PLASMA CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION FROM A SINGLE-SOURCE PRECURSOR

The amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) films were produc ed by the remote hydrogen plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)silane (TMSS) molecular cluster as a novel si ngle-source precursor. The remote plasma CVD process has been examined in terms of mechanism of the activation step. The determined temperat ure dependence of the film deposition rate suggests that the examined remote hydrogen plasma CVD is a non-thermally activated process. The s usceptibility of particular bonds in TMSS molecule to the activation s tep has been characterized using suitable model source compounds. The films have been characterized by ellipsometry, Auger electron spectros copy, scanning electron microscopy, and reflection high energy electro n diffraction analysis. There is reported the effect of substrate temp erature (T-s) on such properties of the film as the compositional unif ormity, surface morphology, and refractive index. The films exhibit an excellent morphological homogeneity, outstanding compositional unifor mity and stoichiometry near pure silicon carbide at T-s=300-400 degree s C. The refractive index alters from 1.5 to 2.4 with rising T-s in th e range of 30-400 degrees C.