Similarities in the growth mechanism for the synthesis of silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and silicon

The temperature dependency of the growth kinetics for the synthesis of silicon carbide, silicon nitride and silicon are reviewed. In general, there is a low temperature region, which follows an Arrhenius type behavior follow by a region with very little temperature dependency. It is postulated that in the temperature region where the Arrhenius type behavior is followed that the deposition rate in all three cases is controlled by the desorption of hydrogen brought to the surface by the silicon, nitrogen, or carbon atoms which are used to grow the film.