Conformal chemical vapor deposition of boron-rich boron carbide thin films from triethylboron

• We report conformal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of boron carbide (BxC) thin films on silicon substrates with 8:1 aspect-ratio morphologies, using triethylboron [B(C2H5)(3)] as a single source CVD precursor. Step coverage (SC) calculated from the cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy measurements shows that films deposited at & LE;450 & DEG;C were highly conformal (SC = 1). We attribute this to the low reaction probability at low substrate temperatures enabling more gas phase diffusion into the features. The chemical state of the material, determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, shows as a carbide with B-B, B-C, C-B, and C-C chemical bonds. Quantitative analysis by time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis reveals that films deposited at 450 & DEG;C are boron-rich with around 82.5 at. % B, 15.6 at. % C, 1.3 at. % O, and 0.6 at. % H, i.e., about B5C. The film density as measured by x-ray reflectometry varies from 1.9 to 2.28 g/cm(3) depending on deposition temperature. (C) 2022 Author(s).All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Materialkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Materials Chemistry (hsv//eng)

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