Basal Plane Dislocation Mitigation in 8º Off-Cut 4H-SiC through In Situ Growth Interrupts during Chemical Vapor Deposition

Conversion of basal plane dislocations (BPD) to threading edge dislocations (TED) in 8° off-cut 4H-SiC within an n+ buffer layer would eliminate the nucleation site for Shockley-type stacking faults in active device regions grown on such buffer layers. To that end, the propagation and conversion of BPDs through in situ growth interrupts is monitored using ultraviolet photoluminescence (UVPL) wafer mapping. The optimized growth interrupt scheme lasts for 45 minutes with a propane mass flow of 10 sccm at growth temperature. This scheme has shown a conversion efficiency of up to 99% for samples with electron (hole) concentrations < 5x1014 cm-3 (8x1015 cm-3). Samples subjected to a 45 or 90 minute interrupt under 10 sccm of propane, regardless of conversion efficiency, exhibit a “slit” in the surface morphology associated with each BPD and oriented perpendicular to the off-cut and BPD propagation direction. Repetition of the optimal interrupt sequence with a 5 μm epilayer spacer grown between the two interrupts resulted in the same conversion efficiency as a single optimal growth interrupt. Incorporation of the optimal interrupt into an n+ layer is more complicated as attempts to do so in layers doped with nitrogen to 2x1018, 2x1017 and 2x1016 cm-3 resulted in conversion efficiencies of ~6%.