THE OPTICAL AND STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF CVD GERMANIUM CARBIDE

D.C. Booth; K.J. Voss

doi:doi:10.1051/jphyscol:19814226

Numéro		J. Phys. Colloques Volume 42, Numéro C4, Octobre 1981 Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Amorphous and Liquid Semiconductors


Page(s)		C4-1033 - C4-1036
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/jphyscol:19814226

Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Amorphous and Liquid Semiconductors

J. Phys. Colloques 42 (1981) C4-1033-C4-1036
DOI: 10.1051/jphyscol:19814226

THE OPTICAL AND STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF CVD GERMANIUM CARBIDE

D.C. Booth and K.J. Voss

Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, U.S.A

Abstract
Germanium carbide films, Ge_xC_1-x have been produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) from acetylene-germane mixtures at substrate temperatures of 475 C to 550 C and {C₂H₂}/{GeH₄ + C₂H₂} ratios of 0% to 75%. Optical and structural measurements of these germanium carbide films are reported as a function of the acetylene-germane ratio. We found a decrease of the value of the refractive index and a shift of the profile of the absorption coefficient relative to the values of pc-Ge as the acetylene gas fraction increases. X-ray difffraction (XRD) measurements show strong polycrystalline germanium peaks for low carbon content, but the intensity of the peaks decreases significantly as the acetylene gas fraction increases. The Ge_xC_1-x films thus appear to be cermet-like compounds of germanium and carbon. The optical absorption properties of these films suggest their use as absorber layers for photothermal solar energy conversion.