Abstract
Silicon carbide is a versatile material amenable to variety of applications from electrical
insulation to surface passivation, diffusion-barrier in optoelectronic and high-frequency devices.
This research presents a fundamental study of a-SiC:H films with variable stoichiometries
deposited using novel technique, DC saddle-field plasma-enhanced chemical-vapour deposition,
a departure from conventional RF PECVD commonly used in industry. DCSF PECVD is an
alternative technique for low temperature large area deposition. Stoichiometric a-SiC:H obtained
by fine-tuning precursor gas mixture. Annealing up to 800oC showed no significant change in
elemental composition; particularly indicating thermal stability at stoichiometry. Ellipsometry
showed wide range of optical gaps whose maximum surpasses values reported in literature.
Refractive index measured and change in values studied as function of increasing carbon content
in the films. Also attainment of very smooth surface morphology for stoichiometric a-SiC:H
films reported. Surface roughness of 1 nm rms demonstrated for films grown at temperature as
low as 225oC.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/35617 |
| Date | 12 July 2013 |
| Creators | Jazizadeh Karimi, Behzad |
| Contributors | Kherani, Nazir P. |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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