Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 26 No 5 (2022): 1135 - 1141

 

MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SILICON CARBIDE THIN FILM DEPOSITED BY VERY HIGH FREQUENCY – PLASMA ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION THROUGH GAS DILUTION ADJUSTMENT

 

(Kajian Morfologi Filem Nipis Silikon Karbida Yang Dimendapkan oleh Frekuensi Sangat Tinggi – Pemendapan Wap Kimia Dipertingkatkan Plasma dengan Melaraskan Pencairan Gas)

 

Zainur Atika Ibrahim, Muhammad Firdaus Omar*, Abd Khamim Ismail

 

Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences,

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: firdausomar@utm.my

 

 

Received: 15 December 2021; Accepted: 27 March 2022; Published:  30 October 2022

 

 

Abstract

Dilution of gas was deployed to investigate the surface morphology and the surface topography of Silicon Carbide (SiC) film deposited using Very High Frequency – Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (VHF-PECVD) technique. The deposition process of SiC thin film was performed with 150 MHz excitation frequency and 20 W radio frequency (RF) power. The argon and hydrogen carrier gas dilution was set to 5 sccm. Silane (SiH4) and methane (CH4) functioned as precursor gases and their flow rates were fixed at 2 and 8 sccm, respectively. Direct observations revealed that the surface morphology of deposited nanostructured-silicon carbide (ns-SiC) films in all samples had layer-island structure with varied island density and size formation above the critical layer thickness. Next, surface topography and roughness of the deposited SiC films were examined using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in non-contact mode. As a result, all samples displayed different roughness, surface topography structure, and average grain diameter.

 

Keywords: silicon carbide, plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition, dilution gas

 

Abstrak

Pencairan gas digunakan untuk menyiasat morfologi permukaan dan topografi permukaan filem silikon karbida (SiC) yang dimendap menggunakan kaedah Frekuensi Sangat Tinggi – Pemendapan Wap Kimia Dipertingkatkan Plasma (VHF-PECVD). VHF-PECVD dikendalikan menggunakan frekuensi pengujaan 150 MHz pada kuasa gelombang radio (RF) 20 W. Sementara itu, pencairan gas pembawa argon dan hidrogen ditetapkan kepada 5 sccm. Gas pendahulu silane (SiH4) dan metana (CH4) masing-masing ditetapkan pada 2 dan 8 sccm. Pemerhatian langsung mendedahkan bahawa morfologi filem nanostruktur-silikon karbida (ns-SiC) yang dideposit dalam semua sampel mempamer sktruktur lapisan-pulau dengan ketumpatan pulau yang berbeza dan pembentukan saiz di atas ketebalan lapisan kritikal. Topografi permukaan dan kekasaran filem SiC yang dimendap diperiksa dengan Mikroskopi Daya Atom (AFM) dalam mod bukan sentuhan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa semua sampel mempunyai kekasaran struktur topografi permukaan dan diameter butiran purata yang berbeza.

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Kata kunci: silikon karbida, pemendapan wap kimia dipertingkatkan plasma, gas pencairan

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