Inductively Coupled Plasma-Assisted RF Magnetron Sputtering Deposition of Highly Uniform SiC Nanoislanded Films

A new deposition technique - inductively coupled plasma-assisted RF magnetron sputtering has been developed to fabricate SiC nanoislanded films. In this system, the plasma production and magnetron sputtering can be controlled independently during the discharge. The deposited SiC nanoislanded films are highly uniform, have excellent stoichiometry, have a typical size of 10-45 nm, and contain small (~6 nm) cubic SiC nanocrystallites embedded in an amorphous SiC matrix.