Low-Temperature Formation of β-Type Silicon Carbide by Ion-Beam Mixing

This paper reports on the ion mixing of a carbon-silicon system induced by the Ar-ion bombardment of carbon layers deposited by an arc-discharge on single-crystalline silicon substrates. A study using infrared absorption spectroscopy has shown that a disordered carbon-silicon mixture can be obtained immediately after bombardment and that subsequent annealing causes the formation of a crystalline β-type silicon carbide phase at about 800°C. The formation temperature is lower by about 100°C than that for carbon-silicon mixed layers formed by the direct implantation of carbon ions into silicon substrates. Argon-ion bombardment, itself, is found to play an important role in a reduction of the formation temperature.