Infrared and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies of as-prepared and furnace-annealed radio-frequency sputtered amorphous silicon carbide films

The effects of annealing on the structural properties of radio-frequency sputtered amorphous silicon carbide films prepared under different hydrogen partial pressures (PH) were investigated. Infrared (IR) results of the as-prepared films suggest that as PH increases, more hydrogen is incorporated into the film to form the Si–H and C–H bonds and less silicon and carbon atoms are available to form the Si–C bonds. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results of the as-prepared films agree with the IR results in that the percent of Si–C decreases and the percent of Si–H and C–H increases as PH increases. IR and XPS results of the annealed films suggest that as the annealing temperature increases, the dangling Si and C bonds will combine to form the Si–C bonds for the unhydrogenated samples. The increase in Si–C bonds for the hydrogenated samples is more likely to be due to the formation of Si–C bonds from the breaking up of the Si–H and C–H bonds.