The preparation of single-crystal 4H-SiC film by pulsed XeCl laser deposition

Abstract By ablating ceramic SiC target with pulsed XeCl laser, SiC films were prepared on Si(100) substrate at temperature 850°C, and post-deposition annealing at high temperature above 1100°C (1100°C T −9 Torr). We studied the morphology of the surface, crystal structure, composition and chemical state of the element of the films before and after annealing by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectrum (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS) and photoluminescence (PL) methods. It was obtained from the analysis that the films consisted of polycrystal 4H-SiC structure before annealing and of oriented single-crystal epitaxial 4H-SiC after annealing. The surfaces of the films were smooth and stuck well to the substrate. The films were transparent. Excited by the 290 nm laser at room temperature, the films gave out two emission peaks at 377 and 560 nm. The emission at 377 nm was assigned to the combination of the transmission between the valence band and conductor band, and the other at 560 nm was assigned to the exciton emission.