Vibrational spectrum of hydrogenated amorphous SiC films

Infrared absorption spectra are presented of amorphous Si1−xCx films made by the glow discharge process. Four bands, representing the stretching modes of SiH, CH, and SiC, and the wagging mode of SiCH3, were followed over the entire alloy composition range. It is shown that the compositional dependence of these bands varies in a manner predicted by a model in which Si and C atoms are randomly distributed throughout the film without chemical ordering. The bonded hydrogen content in the films is estimated to be of the order of 20 to 30 at%, depending on composition, with the silicon atoms bonding to a single hydrogen and the carbons bonding predominantly as CH2 and CH3 groups. Copyright © 1979 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA