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 (SiH sub 2 Cl sub 2 ) and acetylene (C sub 2 H sub 2 ) were investigated. The deposition temperature was held constant at 900 deg C and the pressure ranged between 460 and 510 mTorr. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data indicated that stoichiometric SiC was deposited using SiH sub 2 Cl sub 2 -to-C sub 2 H sub 2 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 SiH sub 2 Cl sub 2 /C sub 2 H sub 2 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.