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Nitrogen doping of SiC thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

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Abstract

Silicon carbide thin films (Si x C y ) were deposited in a RF (13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering system using a sintered SiC target (99.5% purity). In situ doping was achieved by introducing nitrogen into the electric discharge during the growth process of the films. The N2/Ar flow ratio was adjusted by varying the N2 flow rate and maintaining constant the Ar flow rate. The structure, composition and bonds formed in the nitrogen-doped Si x C y thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) techniques. RBS results indicate that the carbon content in the film decreases as the N2/Ar flow ratio increases. Raman spectra clearly reveal that the deposited nitrogen-doped SiC films are amorphous and exhibited C–C bonds corresponding to D and G bands. After thermal annealing, the films present structural modifications that were identified by XRD, Raman and FTIR analyses.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support of CNPq is strongly acknowledged. The authors also thank Dr. Lúcia Vieira dos Santos, Dr. Gil Capote Rodriguez and Luis Francisco Bonetti for providing the facilities for the use Raman system at INPE and Dr. Marcel Dupret from LAMFI-USP for the RBS measurements. They also thank to technician Ronaldo (from IAE-AMR) for the technical support in XRD analyses, and to Dr. Rita C.L.Dutra e Dr. Marta F.K.Takahashi (from IAE-AQI) for FTIR analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plasmas and Processes Laboratory (LPP), Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), SJ dos Campos, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Mariana Amorim Fraga, Marcos Massi, Ivo C. Oliveira & Homero S. Maciel

  2. University of Sao Paulo, LSI/EPUSP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Sebastião G. dos Santos Filho & Ronaldo D. Mansano

Authors
  1. Mariana Amorim Fraga
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  2. Marcos Massi
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  3. Ivo C. Oliveira
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  4. Homero S. Maciel
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  5. Sebastião G. dos Santos Filho
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  6. Ronaldo D. Mansano
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Correspondence to Mariana Amorim Fraga.

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Fraga, M.A., Massi, M., Oliveira, I.C. et al. Nitrogen doping of SiC thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 19, 835–840 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9487-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9487-y

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