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Kinetics of hydrogen in preparing amorphous B5C:H thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2011

Ruqiang Bao ,
Douglas B. Chrisey  and
Daniele J. Cherniak
Ruqiang Bao
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
Douglas B. Chrisey*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
Daniele J. Cherniak
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: chrisd@rpi.edu
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Abstract

The kinetics of hydrogen in preparing amorphous boron carbide (a-B5C:H) thin films was studied. The hydrogen concentration of a-B5C:H thin films formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from a single-source precursor (o-B10C2H12) is ∼35–50 at.% as determined by nuclear reaction analysis. The hydrogen concentration of the a-B5C:H thin films is an exponential function of the precursor flux during the deposition. After annealing, the hydrogen concentration in the a-B5C:H thin films decreases with the increasing annealing temperature. The kinetics of hydrogen removal during annealing is controlled predominantly by its dissociation from PECVD radicals in the a-B5C:H thin films. The activation energy of about 0.14 eV is related to hydrogen dissociation from B–H bonds, but higher activation energy (∼0.44 eV) is required to strip the hydrogen atoms from C–H bonds in the thin films.

Keywords

KineticsThin filmPlasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) (deposition)
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 7 , 14 April 2011 , pp. 867 - 873
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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