Investigations on Polytype Stability and Dislocation Formation in 4H-SiC Grown by PVT

We carried out investigations to elucidate the reasons for polytype changes in 4H. The aim was to sustain polytype stability throughout the entire process. The investigations were accompanied by studies on the formation of basal plane dislocations and their role as source for stacking faults. Several methods for the evaluation of material properties were applied to determine quality most precisely, e.g. KOH-defect-etching, optical microscopy, electron microscopy and X-ray-diffraction. We found out that several influences in growth conditions have to be controlled in a proper manner to achieve defect reduction. Based on these investigations we were able to improve our process and the crystal quality significantly. Best values for 3” 4H wafers show that EPD = 5x103 cm-2 , MPD < 0.1 cm-2 and FWHM-values < 15 arcsec can be achieved.