Ion-beam analysis of silicon carbide

Channeling and backscattering measurements with 3.8 MeV 4He analysis beams have been used to determine the CSi stoichiometric ratio in 100–200 nm SiCx(Hy) films deposited on (100) Si substrates by plasma-enhanced CVD using gas mixtures of CH4 and SiH4. The results show that both annealed and unannealed films are amorphous and allow determination of the CSi ratio to better than ±10% for 0.2 < x < 1.0. Film hydrogen content was determined by ERD with 3.5 MeV 4He analysis beams. In addition, potential problems associated with the use of the 4.265 MeV 4HeC resonance to quantify C in Si are discussed.