Synthesis of microcrystalline SiC film at low temperature ($\le$ 600$^{\circ}$C) by hydrogen plasma chemical transport at sub atmospheric pressure

This paper demonstrates that the $\mu $c-SiC film for solar cell application could be prepared by plasma enhanced chemical transport technique at sub-atmospheric pressure. The SiC film was synthesized by using graphite and Si solid sources. The hydrogen plasma was generated in the gap ($\sim $1mm) between the solid source and substrate at 200 Torr. The influence of the substrate temperature (T$_{sub})$ on the film properties was investigated. Based on the structural analysis, it became clear that the $\mu $c-3C-SiC film could be prepared at low T$_{sub}$ (100 - 600$^{\circ}$C). The electric conductivity of the SiC film increased with increasing T$_{sub}$ and reached to 1.68S/cm for the SiC film prepared at 600$^{\circ}$C. The n-type 3C-SiC film was prepared on the p-type Si to fabricate a pn diode. The current --voltage characteristic of the pn diode showed good rectifying characteristics. Furthermore, photovoltaic characteristic of the prepared diode was checked up.