beta-SiC on SiO2 formed by ion implantation and bonding for micromechanicsapplications

beta-SiC on SiO2 multilayer structures have been fabricated by ion implanta tion into Si substrates and thermal bonding. This process involves three st eps: (i) multiple C implant into Si, to obtain a buried beta-SiC layer with sharp interfaces with the top Si and substrate regions, (ii) selective oxi dation of the top Si layer, and (iii) bonding and etch-back of Si. These ar e processes compatible with Si technology, and allow to obtain high crystal line quality beta-SiC films on SiO2 without using expensive bulk SiC or sil icon-on-insulator (SIO) wafers. The structures have been characterised afte r the different process steps mainly by Fourier transform infrared spectros copy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spe ctroscopy (SIMS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. The analys is of samples processed after the different steps has allowed to define the key parameters for fabricating high quality structures for electronic devi ces and sensors applications. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights res erved.