A comprehensive structural analysis of silicon carbide layers grown by vacuum epitaxy on silicon from hydrides and hydrocarbons
L. K. Orlov, Y. N. Drozdov, M. N. Drozdov, O. A. Pod'yacheva, V. I. Vdovin
Keywords: silicon, silicon carbides, germanium, heterostructures, chemical vacuum epitaxy, crystallographic film structure, surface morphology, heterotransition structure
Pages: 148-154
Abstract
The phase composition, surface morphology and crystalline structure of carbon-containing silicon layers grown on silicon plates of various orientation by vacuum gas phase epitaxy using different operating conditions are considered. The possibility of phase transition from a Si1-xCx solid solution to silicon carbide upon annealing of the structures obtained by low-temperature epitaxy is discussed. The films were examined by the electron, probe and interference optical microscopy, electron diffractometry, and X-ray diffraction methods. The effect of germanium intercalated in a film during its growth on the surface morphology and crystalline structure of carbon-containing silicon layers is examined. Irrespective of the method of germanium insertion in the growing film, a maximum Ge concentration is attained at the interface of silicon and 3C-SiC layers. A comparative study of the surface roughness of 3C-SiC films grown on Si(100) was performed upon variation of the temperature and germanium content in a mixture of gases. The interference optical microscopy was used to investigate the surface morphology of heteroepitaxial structures 3С-SiC/Si in comparison with the surface characteristics of buffer structures based on Si and Ge. The 3C-SiC layers grown on Si(100) and Si(110) were shown to have quite a low surface roughness, which is comparable with the characteristics of Si1-хGeх/Si(100) layers and СР(Ge-Si1-хGeх)/Si(100) superlattices at the initial roughness of Si underlayers ~1-2 nm.
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