1：Experimental Design and Method Selection:

The study used reactive DC magnetron sputtering to deposit amorphous SiC thin films on Si and glass substrates, with CH4 as the reactive gas. The method was chosen for its simplicity, high deposition rates, and industrial acceptance. The composition was varied by changing CH4 flow rates from 1 to 10 cm3/min (5% to 50% of total gas flow), and deposition times were adjusted to maintain constant film thicknesses.

2：Sample Selection and Data Sources:

Substrates included Si (100) wafers (n-type, <100> orientation) and soda-lime glass slides. They were pre-cleaned ultrasonically in ethanol. Samples were prepared with different CH4 flow rates to achieve variable SiC compositions.

3：List of Experimental Equipment and Materials:

Equipment included a TSD 350 PCVD hybrid coating machine (HEF, France) for sputtering, a Dektak 150 profilometer (Veeco, USA) for thickness measurements, a Philips PW1140 X-ray diffractometer for phase analysis, a NKD 7000 spectrophotometer (Aquila, UK) for optical measurements, a JEOL 6320 FV FE-SEM for microstructural analysis, INCA EDS (Oxford, UK) for elemental analysis, and Keithley Instruments source meter (Model 2410) and electrometer (Model 6514) for electrical conductivity measurements. Materials included high-purity silicon target (Kurt J. Lesker Company), Ar and CH4 gases (99.999% purity), and substrates from Sigma-Aldrich.

4：999% purity), and substrates from Sigma-Aldrich. Experimental Procedures and Operational Workflow:

4. Experimental Procedures and Operational Workflow: The process involved achieving a base pressure of 1x10-5 Pa, bias etching with Ar plasma, introducing CH4 at specified flow rates, depositing films without external heating at constant bias voltage (50 V), and adjusting deposition times to ensure uniform thickness. Post-deposition, films were characterized for thickness, composition, phase, optical properties, microstructure, and electrical properties.

5：Data Analysis Methods:

Thickness was measured via profilometry; composition via EDS; phase via XRD; optical constants and band gap via spectrophotometry and Tauc method; microstructure via FE-SEM; and electrical conductivity and activation energy via Arrhenius equation analysis using Keithley instruments.