Effect of laser annealing on amorphous silicon carbide films prepared by PECVD

In order to improve the performance of PECVD SiC in MEMS, pulse excimer laser annealing process was introduced in this paper. The effect was comprehensively investigated in several respects, including morphology, mechanical properties and residual stress elimination. The study revealed that: after laser annealing with adequate energy density, amorphous SiC (a-SiC) transformed into polycrystalline SiC, and larger crystal grains were formed with higher energy density; the process effectively enhanced the films´ mechanical property, a moderate energy density about 90mJ/cm2 resulted in comparatively greatest Young´s modulus and hardness; the stress indicating structure exhibited that the annealing eliminated the compressive stress of films as deposited effectively. Therefore, pulse excimer laser annealing process is a promising method to improve the performance of a-SiC films prepared by PECVD, and makes the material more applicable in many MEMS fields.