Amorphous silicon carbide films prepared using vaporized silicon ink

Abstract

The deposition of wide-band-gap silicon films using nonvacuum processes rather than conventional vacuum processes is of substantial interest because it may reduce cost. Herein, we present the optical and electrical properties of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) films prepared using a nonvacuum process in a simple chamber with a vaporized silicon ink consisting of cyclopentasilane, cyclohexene, and decaborane. The incorporation of carbon into the silicon network induced by the addition of cyclohexene to the silicon ink resulted in an increase in the optical band gap ( E g ) of films from 1.56 to 2.11 eV. The conductivity of films with E g < 1.9 eV is comparable to that of conventional a-SiC:H films prepared using a vacuum process, while the films with E g > 1.9 eV show lower conductivity than expected because of the incorporation of excess carbon without the formation of Si–C bonds.