Growth and characterization of silicon carbide thin films on silicon using a hollow cathode pulse sputtering technique

Abstract Investigations of thin film depositions of silicon carbide (SiC) from pulse sputtering a hollow cathode SiC target are presented. The unique feature of the hollow cathode technique is that germanium can be added to the films. This changes the properties of the SiC. Such changes include evidence of Ge C bonds, lowering of the resistivity, and lowering of the bandgap. The analysis includes crystallographic and morphological studies of the deposited films and their quality using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy data. Basic electrical properties are also presented along with optical bandgap information gathered from spectroscopic ellipsometry data.