Growth of 4H-SiC Epitaxial Layers on 4° Off-Axis Si-Face Substrates

CVD growth of epitaxial layers with a mirror like surface grown on 75 mm diameter 4° off-axis 4H SiC substrates is demonstrated. The effect of the C/Si ratio, temperature and temperature ramp up conditions is studied in detail. A low C/Si ratio of 0.4 and a temperature of 1530 °C is the best combination to avoid step bunching and triangular defects on the epitaxial layers. Using a low growth rate (about 3 µm/h) 6 μm thick, n-type doped epilayers were grown on 75 mm diameter wafers resulting in an RMS value of 0.7 nm and good reproducibility. 20 μm thick epitaxial layers with a background doping in the low 1014 cm-3 were grown with a mirror-like, defect-free surface. Preliminary results when using higher Si/H2 ratio (up to 0.4 %) and HCl addition are also presented: growth rate of 28 μm/h is achieved while keeping a smooth morphology.