Synthesis of smooth amorphous thin films of silicon carbide with controlled properties through pulsed laser deposition

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Thin films of silicon carbide (SiC) on Si (100) and SrTiO (100) substrates have been grown by nanosecond pulsed laser deposition (PLD) with a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser operating at the wavelengths of 1064, 532 and 266 nm. The deposits obtained consisted of smooth and uniform layers of amorphous SiC, free of holes and cracks, with thicknesses in the range of 30–100 nm and average roughness substantially lower than 1 nm. The role of laser wavelength and of substrate temperature (300 K vs. 1025 K) on morphology, crystallinity and composition of the deposits was assessed. The films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, micro-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In addition, optical emission spectroscopy was employed to evaluate the characteristics of the ablation plasma and its correlation with the film growth.
This research was supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and European Regional Development (FEDER) through Projects PID2019-106125GB-I00/AEI/0.13039/501100011033 and PID2019-104124RB-I00/AEI/0.13039/501100011033. Thanks are given to the Soft and Polymeric Matter group (IEM-CSIC) for the use of AFM. We are grateful to M. Furió from MNCN-CSIC and P. Gonzalez from ICTP-CSIC for Raman and X-ray difraction technical assistance, respectively. Funding Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.