Growth Mechanism and Chemical Structure of Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Carbide (a‐SiC:H) Films Formed by Remote Hydrogen Microwave Plasma CVD From a Triethylsilane Precursor: Part 1

Abstract

Abstract Amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (a‐SiC:H) films are produced by remote microwave hydrogen plasma (RHP)CVD using triethylsilane (TrES) as the single‐source precursor. The reactivity of particular bonds of the precursor in the activation step is examined using tetraethylsilane as a model compound for the RHP‐CVD experiments. The susceptibility of a TrES precursor towards film formation is characterized by determining the yield of RHP‐CVD and comparing it with that of the trimethylsilane precursor. The effect of substrate temperature ( T s ) on the rate of the RHP‐CVD process, chemical composition, and chemical structure of the resulting a‐SiC:H films is reported. The substrate temperature dependence of the film growth rate implies that film growth is independent of the temperature and RHP‐CVD is a mass transport‐limited process. The examination of the a‐SiC:H films, performed by means of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), and Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), reveals that the increase in the substrate temperature from 30 °C to 400 °C causes the elimination of organic moieties from the film and the formation of a Si‐carbidic network structure. On the basis of the results of the structural study, the chemistry involved in film formation is proposed.