Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Influence of AlN Buffer Layer on the Structural and Chemical Properties of SiC Thin Films Produced by High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering

Version 1 : Received: 12 February 2019 / Approved: 13 February 2019 / Online: 13 February 2019 (15:33:09 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Galvão, N.; Guerino, M.; Campos, T.; Grigorov, K.; Fraga, M.; Rodrigues, B.; Pessoa, R.; Camus, J.; Djouadi, M.; Maciel, H. The Influence of AlN Intermediate Layer on the Structural and Chemical Properties of SiC Thin Films Produced by High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering. Micromachines 2019, 10, 202. Galvão, N.; Guerino, M.; Campos, T.; Grigorov, K.; Fraga, M.; Rodrigues, B.; Pessoa, R.; Camus, J.; Djouadi, M.; Maciel, H. The Influence of AlN Intermediate Layer on the Structural and Chemical Properties of SiC Thin Films Produced by High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering. Micromachines 2019, 10, 202.

Abstract

Many strategies have been developed for the synthesis of silicon carbide (SiC) thin films on silicon (Si) substrates by plasma-based deposition techniques, especially plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and magnetron sputtering, due to importance of these materials for microelectronics and related fields. A drawback is the large lattice mismatch between SiC and Si. The insertion of a thin aluminum nitride (AlN) buffer layer between them has been shown useful to overcome this problem. Herein, the high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technique was used to grow SiC thin films on AlN/Si substrates. Furthermore, the SiC films were also grown on Si substrates. Comparisons of the structural and chemical properties of SiC thin films grown on the two types of substrates allowed us to evaluate the influence of AlN buffer layer on such properties. The chemical composition and stoichiometry of the samples were investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and Raman spectroscopy, while the crystallinity was characterized by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). Our set of results evidenced the versatility of HiPIMS technique to produce polycrystalline SiC thin films at near room temperature only varying the discharge power. In addition, this study opens up a feasible route for the deposition of crystalline SiC films with a good structural quality using AlN buffer layer.

Keywords

HiPIMS; silicon carbide; aluminum nitride; thin film; RBS; GIXRD; Raman spectroscopy

Subject

Chemistry and Materials Science, Surfaces, Coatings and Films

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.