Kinetic study of 3C-SiC growth on Si by pyrolyzing tetramethysilane in low pressure radio frequency-induction heated chemical vapor deposition reactor

Abstract

Single crystal 3C-SiC films were grown on Si(111) substrate using tetramethylsilane [TMS,(CH3)4Si] in a low pressure radio frequency-induction heated chemical vapor deposition reactor. The growth rate of 3C-SiC film increased with increasing TMS flow rate and growth temperature. The growth kinetics of 3C-SiC film was determined by analyzing the experimental data on the growth rate. The growth reaction of 3C-SiC film was the first order of TMS partial pressure in the reactor. The reaction rate controlling step changed from the surface reaction in the temperature range of 1100–1250 °C to the diffusion of reactive gases at higher temperatures above 1250 °C. The activation energies were 72.2 kcal/min for the surface reaction-controlling step and 38.2 kcal/min for the diffusion-controlling step. At the growth temperatures, TMS was dissociated into hydrogen, Si atoms, and hydrocarbon gases such as CH3⋅, CH4, C2H2, and C2H4. The effective reactive species for the growth of 3C-SiC turned out to be gaseous Si atoms and methyl radicals in this growth system. The mechanisms of TMS decomposition and SiC growth were discussed in detail based on quadrapole mass spectrometer analysis.