SiC/DLC composite layers synthesised by the IPD method

Silicon carbide is a wide band gap semiconductor material. Although it has been known for several years, investigators continue to examine it in fundamental as well as application terms. SiC is used in devices operated under high-power, high temperature and high radiation conditions. A typical application of this material is its use as a substrate material in modern opto-electronic devices. The foundation of the SiC structure is a tetrehedral coordination of the atoms of both the elements that form it. The principal phases are: /spl alpha/-SiC (blende structure), and /spl beta/-SiC (wurtzite structure). In addition to these two phases, about 200 phases of SiC have been identified. The paper reports on the studies on the synthesis of SiC layers using the IPD method with the plasma reactants being delivered in various manners. It has been found that the product of the synthesis is a composite material built of a DLC matrix and SiC single crystals of the /spl alpha/-SiC 51R type, with grain sizes of about 100nm. Depending on the silicon dosing method (solid state source, TMS), the silicon content in the layer material ranged from 2 to 13%.