Growth of Silicon Nanocrystallites in Amorphous Silicon Carbide Thin Films by Aluminum Induced Crystallization

摘要

Growth of silicon nanocrystallites within the amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) thin films has been studied during stepwise vacuum annealing of the films deposited on bare quartz and 100 nm aluminum coated quartz substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) method. Comparison of the effect of aluminum on the crystallization process with the corresponding reference films of a-SiC:H deposited on bare quartz by XRD and Raman scattering measurements shows that the aluminum induces the growth of silicon nanocrystallites at an enhanced rate.