Photoemission study of β-SiC growth by a polyimide Langmuir-Blodgett film on silicon

Using photoelectron spectroscopies we studied the growth process of SiC on n-Si(lll) by polyimide Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film. The polyimide pyrolyzes when heated, and leaves a skeleton of carbon atoms on the film surface, which remains the structure of LB films before pyrolysis. At about 800 degrees C, if the polyimide LB film is thin, the substrate Si will outdiffuse quickly and form a Si layer on top of the film At 1000 degrees C, the Si from Si-O reacts with carbon from pyrolysis to form SiC. From the results we suggest that the LB film thickness is an important factor in the growth of good quality single crystalline SIC films. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.