A Comparative Analysis on Process Dependent Structural and Optical Properties of Si-Rich Silicon Carbide Thin Films
Sam Baskar1, R. Pratibha Nalini2, Gargi Raina3
1Sam Baskar , Research Scholar, School of Electronics Engineering, VIT University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
2R. Pratibha Nalini, (Resigned) Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
3Gargi Raina, Professor, School of Electronics Engineering, VIT University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
Manuscript received on 18 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 25 June 2019 | Manuscript published on 30 June 2019 | PP: 787-791 | Volume-8 Issue-5, June 2019 | Retrieval Number: E7242068519/19©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Si nanoclusters (Si-nc) embedded in Silicon Carbide (SiC) matrix are promising for optoelectronic applications. Despite high temperature post fabrication treatments, it is often noticed that the formation of SiC-nc and amorphous-Si nanoclusters (a-Si nc) are favoured than Si nanocrystals. This paper carries out meticulous investigation on the variations in structural and optical properties of amorphous-Silicon rich Silicon carbide (a-SixCy) thin films with varying process conditions in deposition approach, deposition temperatures (Td) and post deposition annealing conditions. The films deposited by magnetron sputtering and co-sputtering techniques are subjected to various annealing temperatures (Ta) using conventional thermal annealing (CTA), rapid thermal annealing (RTA), vacuum annealing (VA) and in-situ (IA) annealing techniques. A comparative study with deposition and post-deposition conditions considering the effect of excess Si incorporation and the unintentional oxidation during various stages of sample preparation is reported. It is noticed that though Si- nc formed are predominantly amorphous, the films deposited at Td of 200oC and in-situ annealed are promising as they show a higher absorption coefficient (α) and refractive index in comparison with the other high temperature annealing approaches. Such a result paves way to analyse the possibility of these films for future optoelectronic applications at reduced thermal budget.
Keywords: Annealing, Si-rich Silicon Carbide, Sputtering, Thin Films, Nanoclusters
Scope of the Article: Optical Devices