Deposition of polycrystalline 3C-SiC films on 100 mm diameter Si(100) wafers in a large-volume LPCVD furnace

The chemical and microstructural characteristics of silicon carbide films deposited on 100 mm diam, silicon (100) wafers in a large-volume, low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) furnace using dichlorosilane (SiH2Cl2) and acetylene (C2H2) were investigated. The deposition temperature was held constant at 900degreesC and the pressure ranged between 460 and 510 mTorr. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data indicated that stoichiometric SiC was deposited using SiH2Cl2-to-C2H2 molar ratios of 4:1, 6:1, and 8:1. X-ray diffraction showed that the stoichiometric films were highly textured, 3C-SiC(111) at all locations across each wafer. These findings indicate that the SiH2Cl2/C2H2 precursor system has great potential for use in large-scale LPCVD furnaces and produces SiC films with a microstructure that has advantageous properties for use in high-frequency resonator micromechanical devices. (C) 2002 The Electrochemical Society.