Low-Temperature Epitaxial Growth of Cubic Silicon Carbide on Si(100) for Submicron-Pattern Fabrication

SiC films were selectively grown on patterned SiO2/Si(100) substrates using supersonic molecular jet epitaxy. For film growth, we employed methylsilane seeded in a carrier gas (He or H2) as a reactant gas. Due to the high translational kinetic energy of methylsilane molecules in the supersonic jet, the growth temperature was as low as 670°C. The reduction of the growth temperature is explained in terms of a decrease in the activation energy and enhancement of the reaction efficiency from methylsilane to the SiC film during film growth. More importantly, a high growth rate of SiC at low temperature yielded submicron patterns of SiC without degradation of the SiO2 mask.