Growth and characterization of SiC layers obtained by microwave-CVD

Silicon carbide is a wide band gap semiconductor of interest for its applic ation in many electronic devices. In recent years, a large research activit y has been devoted to growth techniques for amorphous, polycrystalline or e ven epitaxial structures. In this paper, we have reported results on microc rystalline and polycrystalline SiC layers grown by high temperature ECR-CVD over 4" (100) silicon wafer in SiH4 + CH4 gas mixtures. The structure of t he films has been investigated by X-ray diffractometry, micro-Raman spectro scopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Stoichiometric SiC films containing a complete chemical order, 3C-SiC crystals with orientation clos e to that of Si substrate and lateral dimensions larger than 100 nm have be en obtained. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.