Characterization of silicon carbide thin films grown on Si and SiO2/Si substrates

✍ Scribed by P. Zanola; E. Bontempi; C. Ricciardi; G. Barucca; L.E. Depero

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 227 KB
• Volume: 114-115
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mseb.2004.07.013

✦ Synopsis

Due to its outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, silicon carbide (SiC) is considered a leading semiconducting material for high temperature sensors.

Since the piezoresistive effect in SiC is highly anisotropic and exhibits a dependence on the crystal orientation, the role of the substrate on the residual stress must be investigated.

This paper presents the structural and morphological characterisation of polycrystalline 3C-SiC films using two-dimensional X-Ray Diffraction (XRD 2 ) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques.

3C-SiC thin films were grown on single crystalline Si and on SiO 2 /Si substrates under the same deposition conditions. The influence of the two substrates on the structural and microstructral properties of the films was investigated.

By means of XRD 2 technique, particular attention was devoted to the stress calculation and in particular to the stress release by the formation of extended defects.