SYNTHESIS OF BETA-SIC THIN-FILMS FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE SENSORS BY THE ACTIVATED REACTIVE EVAPORATION PROCESS

Beta-SiC thin films were grown on Si(100) and alpha-alumina substrates by the activated reactive evaporation (ARE) process. The optimum depo sition conditions are an acetylene gas pressure P(C2H2) of 3 mTorr, su bstrate temperature T(s) of 690-degrees-C, and electron beam emission current I(e) of 150 mA. Si was evaporated from an electron beam evapor ation source in a d.c. glow discharge of acetylene gas. The effects of substrate temperature and C2H2 pressure, which are the most important deposition parameters, on the structure and stoichiometry of the film s were investigated by various thin film characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reflection high energy electron di ffraction (RHEED) for the identification of crystalline phases, energy -dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) for composition analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for microstructure.