Crystallisation mechanism of amorphous silicon carbide

The transition from amorphous to crystalline phase in silicon carbide was investigated by infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Amorphous silicon carbide films on silicon substrate were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition. Quantitative analysis of the crystalline fraction has been performed by IR measurements. The crystallisation kinetic was monitored by following the evolution of the silicon–carbon bond absorption band in the infrared spectra as a function of the annealing temperature (800–1000 °C) and time. The results indicate that crystallisation occurs through the nucleation and growth of crystalline grains and an activation energy of 5.1 eV for the process has been determined. TEM analysis showed a polycrystalline β-SiC microstructure for the fully crystallised films.