Si-rich Silicon Carbide Thin Films Preparation And Characterization

With the assistant of Microwave Electron Cyclotron Resonance (MV-ECR) plasma, silicon-rich silicon carbide thin films have been prepared by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering (RFMS) and high power pulse magnet sputtering (HPPMS) with high pure silicon and graphite targets as Si and C sources. The as-deposited films were annealed at different temperatures (Ta) from800to1000℃. The chemical structure and photoluminescence properties were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The experimental results are summarized as follows:When Si-rich silicon carbide thin films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering, the sputtering power of Si target and annealed temperature both have influences on the chemical structure or photoluminescence properties of deposited films. The sputtering power of Si target has no obvious influence on the chemical structure of the deposited films, but it has obvious influence on the photoluminescence properties of deposited films at room temperature. The annealed temperature has obvious influence on both the chemical structure and photoluminescence properties of the films. The Si-C peak of the FT-IR has obvious blue shift with the annealing temperature increasing.When Si-rich silicon carbide thin films were prepared by high power pulse magnet sputtering, the XPS results indicated that the films were silicon rich silicon carbide films. FT-IR results showed that there was Si-C in the films, and Si-C contents increased and Si-H decreased with annealing temperature increasing, together with nanocrystallization of Si. XRD results demonstrated that the films deposited at room temperature were amorphous and the annealed films at exceed900℃were nanocrystal films, with Si nano-crystallite embedded in amorphous SiC matrix. PL results show two blue emission peaks at414and436nm respectively. Their positions do not change with increasing annealing temperatures.