Amorphous silicon carbide thin films doped with P or B for the photoelectrochemical water splitting devices

Abstract Photoelectrochemical water splitting devices require semiconductor photoelectrode material fulfilling a number of primary requirements such as band gap, band edge alignment and corrosion resistance to electrolyte. Amorphous silicon carbide films, undoped and doped (P or B), were deposited on Si substrates by PECVD technology. The concentration of elements in the films was determined by RBS and ERD analytical method. Raman spectroscopy study of the SiC films were performed by using a Raman microscope and chemical compositions were analyzed by FTIR, before and after immersion of samples to aqueous pH 2.0 and pH 1.0 sulfuric acid electrolyte. Electrical properties of SiC films before and after immersion of samples to aqueous pH 2.0 and pH 1.0 sulfuric acid electrolyte were studied by measurement of the I–V characteristics on structure Al/SiC/Si/Al. Differences between Raman spectra, FTIR spectra and I–V characteristics before and after immersion to electrolyte are discussed.