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On the effects of thermal treatment on the composition, structure, morphology, and optical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-oxycarbide

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Abstract

The composition, structure, morphology, and optical characteristics of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-oxycarbide (a-SiCxOyHz) materials were investigated as a function of experimental processing conditions and post-deposition thermal treatment. Thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) was applied to the growth of three different types of a-SiCxOyHz films, namely, SiC-like (SiC1.08O0.07H0.21), Si-C-O (SiC0.50O1.20H0.22), and SiO2-like (SiC0.20O1.70H0.24). The resulting films were subsequently annealed at temperatures ranging from 500 °C to 1100 °C for 1 h in an argon atmosphere. The composition, structure, and morphology of as-deposited and post-annealed films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), nuclear-reaction analysis (NRA), and scanning electron microscopy. Corresponding optical properties were assessed by spectroscopic ultraviolet-visible ellipsometry (UV-VIS-SE). These studies led to the identification of an optimized process window for the growth of Er doped silicon oxycarbide (SiC0.5O1.0:Er) thin film with strong room-temperature photoluminescence emission measured around 1540 nm within a broad (460 nm to 600 nm) wavelength band. Associated modeling studies showed that the effective cross section for Er excitation in the SiC0.5O1.0:Er matrix was approximately four orders of magnitude larger than its analog for direct optical excitation of Er ions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, The University at Albany–SUNY, Albany, New York, 12203, USA

    Spyros Gallis, Vasileios Nikas, Eric Eisenbraun, Mengbing Huang & Alain E. Kaloyeros

  2. International Business Machines, Hopewell Junction, New York, 10598, USA

    Spyros Gallis

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  1. Spyros Gallis
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  2. Vasileios Nikas
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Correspondence to Spyros Gallis.

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Gallis, S., Nikas, V., Eisenbraun, E. et al. On the effects of thermal treatment on the composition, structure, morphology, and optical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-oxycarbide. Journal of Materials Research 24, 2561–2573 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2009.0308

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