Thin films of GeC deposited using a unique hollow cathode sputtering technique

Experimental results on thin films of the new material GexC1-x, deposited by a unique dual plasma hollow cathode sputtering technique are presented here. The (Ge, C) system is extremely promising since the addition of C to Ge has reduced the lattice dimensions enough to allow a lattice match to silicon, while increasing the bandgap close to that of c-Si. The most important contribution of this work shows that by the non-equilibrium growth conditions present using the hollow cathode technique, one can grow Group IV materials which cannot otherwise be grown using normal CVD or MBE processes. The sputtering is accomplished by igniting a DC plasma of the Ar and H-2 gases which are fed through Ge and C nozzles, cylindrical tubes 30 mm in length with an 8 mm OD and a 3 mm ID. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.