Formation of crystalline SiC films by CH4 plasma immersion ion implantation into Si

Hydrocarbon ions are implanted into silicon by pulse biasing Si to a high voltage of -40 kV in a methane plasma. As implantation of Si at beam heating conditions (T<500 K) results in the formation of amorphous silicon carbide compounds, an infrared heating system is used to obtain implantation temperatures up to 1100 K. RBS/C measurements show. that it is possible to obtain the stoichiometric 1:1 ratio of Si:C for all implantation temperatures. The amorphous layer thickness considerably decreases with increasing temperature. For implantation temperatures of 1000 K crystalline SIC precipitates in an amorphous SiC matrix are observed by cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). Further increasing the implantation temperature to 1100 K; results in the formation of a crystalline SiC layer during implantation itself. The phase formation of the cubic silicon carbide phase is shown and an epitaxial relationship between Si and SiC is given. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.