On the nature of microwave deposited hard silicon-carbon films

摘要

Hydrogenated silicon-carbon films have been deposited from argon tetramethylsilane mixtures at 873 or 673 K, with or without hydrogen dilution and at 673 K with silane addition, by using microwave assisted CVD. Except for the case where silane was added, the Si/C atomic ratio is almost constant: 0.6 < Si/C < 0.8. These films, whose mechanical properties vary largely, can be regarded as SiC microcrystallites embedded in an amorphous carbon phase which, furthermore, contains silicon when prepared at 873 K. The concentration of C-C homonuclear bonds is reduced by increasing the temperature and by hydrogen dilution. Addition of silane increases the contributions of Si-Si and Si-H bonds. References: 46