STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF A-SIC-H THIN-FILMS

In this work the dependence of structural, compositional, and optical properties of sputtered a-SiC:H thin films on substrate temperature, T(s), and hydrogen flow rate have been measured. a-SiC:H thin films were rf sputtered on various substrates, using a SiC target of constant composition. The experimental results showed that all films are amorphous with smooth surfaces, for the growth conditions used, and that the C/Si atomic ratio in the alloys is almost independent of substrate temperature. Infrared measurements showed that the hydrogen content in a-SiC:H films varied with T(s) and increases with hydrogen flow rate increasing from 9 sccm to 20 sccm. Finally, the optical absorption coefficient was found to depend strongly on T(s) and hydrogen flow rate.