AVS 46th International Symposium
    Electronic Materials and Processing Division Thursday Sessions
       Session EM2-ThA

Paper EM2-ThA4
Contact Properties of Cerium Ultrathin Film on SiC

Thursday, October 28, 1999, 3:00 pm, Room 611

Session: Silicon Carbide and Dielectrics on Si
Presenter: T. Crenshaw, Fisk University
Authors: W.J. Lu, Fisk University
D.T. Shi, Fisk University
T. Crenshaw, Fisk University
A. Burger, Fisk University
W.E. Collins, Fisk University
Correspondent: Click to Email
Cerium (Ce) is well known as an excellent catalyst for NO@sub x@ conversion in environmental and automobile exhaust gas control. It has a strong adsorption capability for oxygen containing gases. Ce/SiC has a great potential as a chemical sensing materials for NO@sub x@ which can be operated at high temperature. To the best of our knowledge, the electrical contact properties of Ce/SiC on SiC have not been reported. In this work, the morphology and interfacial composition of Ce ultra-thin films on 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC are investigated after thermal annealing using atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Ce ultra-thin films of about 3 nm thickness are deposited by RF sputtering. The samples are annealed at the evaluated temperatures for 30 minutes in air. The Ce ultra-thin film on 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC has a good uniformity as deposited, and there are no significant morphological changes for both samples after annealing. The Ce on SiC contact is a Schottky contact, and the Schottky barrier heights for Ce/6H-SiC and Ce/4H-SiC as deposited are 1.43 eV and 1.77 eV, respectively. The Ce film is oxidized to be a Ce oxide film after thermal annealing in air. The morphology and the interfacial compositions after annealing will be presented. Key Words: SiC, Ce, AFM, XPS, and Schottky barrier height.