Silicon carbon nitride (SiCN) nanowires, nanorods and nanotubes have gained much attention due to their excellent field emission and photoluminescence properties. These nanostructures were usually grown using catalysts at high temperature (800–1000 °C). In this paper, synthesis of SiCN nanostructures at a temperature less than 500°C is reported. Various kinds of SiCN nanostructures were synthesized using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition method. Gas mixtures of CH4, H2 and N2 were used as precursors and Si chips were inserted in the sample holder at symmetrical positions around the specimen as additional Si sources. Metallic gallium was used as the liquid medium in a mechanism similar to vapor-liquid-solid. Morphologies of the resultant were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize their compositions and bonding states.
Ti/WSi/Ni contact to n-type SiCN was investigated using the circular transmission line method. Current-voltage characteristics, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the contacts before and after annealing. It is shown that the conducting behavior of the contacts is dependent on the annealing temperature. After annealing at 900℃ or above, ohmic contacts with specific contact resistivity were achieved. The 1000-℃-annealed contact exhibits the lowest specific contact of 3.07 × 10^-5 Ω·cm^2. The formation of ohmic contact with low specific contact resistivity was discussed.
