Behaviour of amorphous silicon carbide in Au/a-SiC/Si heterostructures prepared by PECVD technology using two different RF modes

Abstract Amorphous silicon carbide a-SiC (or more accurate a-Si 1− x C x ) thin films were prepared within Au/a-Si 1− x C x /c-Si(p)/Al structures by PECVD deposition technique. Thin silicon carbide films on (1 0 0) silicon substrates were deposited using two different RF modes, i.e. placing the substrates either on electrically powered or grounded electrode. FTIR spectroscopy method was used for characterization of chemical bond states in the structure. Morphology of surface was analysed by AFM. C – V measurements on the prepared heterostructures were performed to evaluate the charge transport properties within the Au/a-Si 1− x C x /c-Si(p)/Al structures. Temperature dependences of forward (FW) current–voltage ( I – V ) characteristics of Au/a-Si 1− x C x /c-Si(p)/Al structures are shown and analysed in this paper. Parameters as saturation current and activation energies were calculated from forward biased I – V curves.