Polycrystalline SiC growth and characterization C. Ricciardi a,* , E. Aimo Boot a , F. Giorgis a , P. Mandracci a , U.M. Meotto a , G. Barucca b a Lab. Materiali e Microsistemi Chivasso, INFM-Politecnico Torino, Italy b INFM-Dip.di Scienza dei Materiali e della Terra, Universita ` Ancona, Italy Available online 28 July 2004 Abstract Growth of 3C–SiC on (1 0 0) Si wafers has been carried out by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), using a H 2 þ SiH 4 þ C 3 H 8 gas mixture at about 1000 8C. No carbonization layer was performed. Micro-Raman measurements yield the presence of microcrystalline SiC matrix, while neither carbon nor silicon clusterization in amorphous phase was detected with optimized deposition conditions. Transmission electron microscopy has been used to analyze the orientation of the films and the surface growth: the presence of voids and edge dislocations at the interface was revealed. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 81.15.Kk; 18.30.j; 68.37.Lp Keywords: SiC; Raman spectroscopy; TEM; MEMS 1. Introduction Silicon carbide is a wide band semiconductor which is very promising for many applications in optoelec- tronics and microelectronics. Its physical properties such as high breakdown field, high saturated drift velocity and high thermal conductivity make it a very good candidate for the applications in which high voltage or high power dissipation are involved [1]. Therefore, since 1983 the heteroepitaxial growth of 3C–SiC on silicon substrates has become very attrac- tive, but due to the large lattice mismatch (20%) between Si and SiC, a high defect density is found at the interface which drastically influences the over- grown film [2]. Moreover, voids are formed at the SiC/ Si interfaces due to the high growth temperature (above 1300 8C) that conventional CVDs usually require [3–9]. Although the obtained SiC layer results to be highly defective, it remains an excellent material for the realization of micro-electro-mechanical sys- tems (MEMS) operating in harsh environments due to the unique properties of this material such as mechan- ical strength, high chemical inertness and ability to operate at high temperatures [10]. The polycrystalline form of SiC is particularly suitable for such applica- tions due to the possibility of growing it on different type of substrates, using relatively low processing temperatures [11]. In the present work we have studied the growth of 3C–SiC films on (1 0 0) Si substrates at the tempera- ture of 1000 8C, varying the fluxes of precursors (SiH 4 and C 3 H 8 ) to obtain the optimal deposition conditions Applied Surface Science 238 (2004) 331–335 * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 011 5647381; fax: þ39 011 5647399. E-mail address: carlo.ricciardi@polito.it (C. Ricciardi). 0169-4332/$ – see front matter # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2004.05.225