Heavily doped polycrystalline 3C-SiC growth on SiO2/Si(100) substrates for resonator applications

3C-SiC is a promising material for the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) applications in harsh environments. This paper presents the LPCVD growth of heavily nitrogen doped polycrystalline 3C-SiC films on Si wafers with 2.0 mu m-thick silicon dioxide (SiO2) films for resonator applications. The growth has been performed via chemical vapor deposition using SiH4 and C2H4 precursor gases with carrier gas of H-2 in a newly developed vertical CVD chamber. NH3 was used as n-type dopant. 3C-SiC films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and room temperature Hall Effect measurements. It was shown that there is no voids at the interface between 3C-SiC and SiO2. Undoped 3C-SiC films show n-type conduction with resisitivity, Hall mobility, and carrier concentration at room temperature of about 0.56 Omega center dot cm, 54 cm(2)/Vs, and 2.0x 10(17) cm(-3), respectively. The heavily nitrogen doped polycrystalline 3C-SiC with the resisitivity of less than 10(-3) Omega center dot cm was obtained by in-situ doping. Polycrystalline SiC resonators have been fabricated preliminarily on these heavily doped SiC films with thickness of about 2 mu m. Resonant frequency of 49.1 KHz was obtained under atmospheric pressure.

Rearch on glass ceramics with negative CTE used as FBG substrate

SPIE; COS; Wuhan Municipal Government

THE OXIDATION-KINETICS OF THIN POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON FILMS

The oxidation dynamics and morphology of undoped and heavily phosphorus-doped polycrystalline silicon films oxidized at a wide temperature and time range in dry and wet O2 atmosphere have been investigated. It is shown that the oxidation rates of polycrystalline silicon films are different from that of single-crystal silicon when the oxidation temperature is below 1000-degrees-C. There is a characteristic oxidation time, t(c), under which the undoped polysilicon oxide is not only thicker than that of (100)-oriented single-crystal silicon, but also thicker than that of (111)-oriented single-crystal silicon. For phosphorus-doped polycrystalline silicon films, the oxide thickness is thinner not only than that of (111)-oriented, single-crystal silicon, but also thinner than that of (100)-oriented, single-crystal silicon. According to TEM cross-sectional studies, these characteristics are due to the enhanced oxidation at grain boundaries of polycrystalline silicon films. A stress-enhanced oxidation model has been proposed and used to explain successfully the enhanced oxidation at grain boundaries of polycrystalline silicon films. Using this model, the oxidation linear rate constant of polysilicon (B/A)poly has been calculated and used in the modeling of the oxidation dynamics. The model results are in good agreement with the experimental data over the entire temperature and time ranges studied.

Polycrystalline silicon thin films and solar cells prepared by rapid thermal CVD

Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films(similar to 10 mu m) were grown from dichlorosilane by a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) technique, with a growth rate up to 100 Angstrom/s at the substrate temperature (T-s) of 1030 degrees C. The average grain size and carrier mobility of the films were found to be dependent on the substrate temperature and material. By using the poly-Si films, the first model pn(+) junction solar cell without anti-reflecting (AR) coating has been prepared on an unpolished heavily phosphorus-doped Si wafer, with an energy conversion efficiency of 4.54% (AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm(2), 1 cm(2)).

Structural properties of polycrystalline silicon films formed by pulsed rapid thermal processing

A novel pulsed rapid thermal processing (PRTP) method has been used for realizing the solid-phase crystallization of amorphous silicon films prepared by PECVD. The microstructure and surface morphology of the crystallized films are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that this PRTP is a suitable post-crystallization technique for fabricating large-area polycrystalline silicon films with good structural qualities such as large grain size, small lattice microstain and smooth surface morphology on low-cost substrate.

Structural evaluation of polycrystalline silicon thin films by hot-wire-assisted PECVD

Tungsten wires were introduced into a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system as a catalyzer: we name this technique 'hot-wire-assisted PECVD' (HW-PECVD). Under constant deposition pressure (p(g)), gas flow ratio and catalyzer position, the effects of the hot wire temperature (T-f) on the structural properties of the poly-Si films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Compared with conventional PECVD, the grain size, crystalline volume fraction (X-e) and deposition rate were all enhanced when a high T-f was used. The best poly-Si film exhibits a preferential (220) orientation, with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.2 degrees. The Si-Si TO peak of the Raman scattering spectrum is located at 519.8 cm(-1) with a FWHM of 7.1 cm(-1). The X-c is 0.93. These improvements are mainly the result of promotion of the dissociation of SiH4 and an increase in the atomic H concentration in the gas phase. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Aluminum induced crystallization of strongly (111) oriented polycrystalline silicon thin film and nucleation analysis

A polycrystalline silicon thin film was fabricated on glass substrate by means of aluminum induced crystallization (AIC). Al and alpha-Si layers were deposited by magnetron sputtering respectively and annealed at 480A degrees C for 1 h to realize layer exchange. The polycrystalline silicon thin film was continuous and strongly (111) oriented. By analyzing the structure variation of the oxidation membrane and lattice mismatch between gamma-Al2O3 and Si, it was concluded that aluminum promoted the formation of (111) oriented silicon nucleus by controlling the orientation of gamma-Al2O3, which was formed at the early stage of annealing.

Characterization of porous silicon nitride/silicon oxynitride composite ceramics produced by sol infiltration

Porous silicon nitride/silicon oxynitride composite ceramics were fabricated by silica sol infiltration of aqueous gelcasting prefabricated Si3N4 green compact. Silica was introduced by infiltration to increase the green density of specimens, so suitable properties with low shrinkage of ceramics were achieved during sintering at low temperature. Si2N2O was formed through reaction between Si3N4 and silica sol at a temperature above 1550 degrees C. Si3N4/Si2N2O composite ceramics with a low linear shrinkage of 1.3-5.7%, a superior strength of 95-180 MPa and a moderate dielectric constant of 4.0-5.0 (at 21-39 GHz) were obtained by varying infiltration cycle and sintering temperature. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Critical Biot's number for Determination of the Sensitivity of Spherical Ceramics to Thermal Shock

A critical Biot number, which determines both the sensitivity of spherical ceramics to quenching and the durations of the temperature-wave propagation and the thermal stresses in the ceramics subjected to thermal shock, is theoretically obtained. The results prove that once the Biot number of a ceramic sphere is greater than the critical number, its thermal shock failure will be such a rapid process that the failure only occurs in the initial regime of heat conduction, whereas the thermal shock failure of the ceramic sphere is uncertain in the course of heat conduction. The presented results provide a guide to the selection of the ceramics applied in the thermostructural engineering with thermal shock.

Enhanced Thermal Shock Resistance of Ceramics through Biomimetically Inspired Nanofins

We propose here a new method to make ceramics insensitive to thermal shock up to their melting temperature. In this method the surface of ceramics was biomimetically roughened into nanofinned surface that creates a thin air layer enveloping the surface of the ceramics during quenching. This air layer increases the heat transfer resistance of the surface of the ceramics by about 10 000 times so that the strong thermal gradient and stresses produced by the steep temperature difference in thermal shock did not occur both on the actual surface and in the interior of the ceramics. This method effectively extends the applications of existing ceramics in the extreme thermal environments.