Papers by Author: Anne Henry

Abstract: A new type of 6H zigzag faults has been identified from high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurements performed on low-doped 4H-SiC homoepitaxial layer grown on off-axis substrates in a hot-wall CVD reactor. They are made of half unit cells of 6H with corresponding low temperature photoluminescence (LTPL) response ranging from about 3 eV to 2.5 eV at liquid helium temperature.

Abstract: Two different and novel in-grown triangular stacking faults have been observed and characterized in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers grown on 4o off-cut substrates. The faults were formed at the beginning of the growth and extended continuously in size during the growth. Their structural and optical properties were however different as seen from both synchrotron white beam topography and low temperature photoluminescence. The luminescence spectra were similar but appeared in different energy regions 2.85 – 2.95 eV and 2.48 – 2.64 eV, respectively. BPDs present in the epilayer are found to be transformed into SFs under laser excitation during high resolution optically detected lifetime mapping. The faults are found to expand from the epilayer surface towards the epi-substrate interface. The optical spectrum from this fault is identical to the emission from the single layered Shockley stacking faults with excitonic bandgap of 3.034 eV previously only observed and formed in the bipolar diodes during forward voltage operation.

Abstract: Chloride-based growth on on-axis SiC substrates has been studied at higher temperature than typical CVD conditions. The use of chlorinated precursors allows to grow homo-polytypic layers and to achieve high growth rates for thick layers deposition. In this study a vertical reactor with the gas flow inlet at the bottom has been used to grow layers up to 1.5 mm thick. Thanks to the addition of hydrogen chloride (HCl) to the standard precursors mixture, growth rates up to 300 μm/h have been achieved at a process temperature lower than 1900 °C. Very pure layers, micropipe free, and with a low background doping have been grown on 4H and 6H-SiC carbon and silicon-face, respectively, on-axis 3” diameter substrates. The results obtained indicates that this process has the potential to become a novel bulk growth technique at lower temperature than usual, which could give several advantages.

Abstract: A chloride-based CVD process has been studied in concentrated growth conditions. A systematic study of different carrier flows and pressures has been done in order to get good quality epilayers on 8° off and on-axis substrates while using very low carrier flows. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) was added to the standard gas mixture to keep a high growth rate and to get homo-polytypic growth on on-axis substrates. The carrier flow was reduced down to one order of magnitude less than under typical growth condition. By lowering the process pressure it was possible to reduce precursor depletion along the susceptor which improved the thickness uniformity to below 2% variation (σ/mean) over a 2” diameter wafer.

Abstract: Homoepitaxial growth has been performed on 3” Si-face on-axis 4H–SiC substrates using standard gas system in a horizontal Hot-wall chemical vapor deposition system. Substrate surface damages are found to act as preferential nucleation sites for 3C inclusions also, the surface morphology after in-situ etching is found to largely influence the polytype stability in the epilayer. Different in-situ etching conditions were studied where Si-rich conditions are found to be better. Growth parameters and starting growth conditions are refined to obtain stable polytype in the epilayer. High quality homoepitaxial layers with 100% 4H–SiC are obtained on 3” substrates. Different optical and structural techniques are used to characterize the layers and to understand the growth mechanisms. The layers are found to be of high quality and no epitaxial defects typically found on off-axis epitaxial layers are observed. A high surface roughness is observed in these layers, however higher growth rate significantly lowers the surface roughness without affecting the polytype stability in the epilayer.

Abstract: Cantilever resonators have been fabricated from two types of materials, single crystal and polycrystalline 3C-SiC films. The films have been grown in a hot-wall chemical vapor deposition reactor on 100 mm diameter p-type boron-doped (100) Si wafer without rotation of the wafer. The crystal structure of the films have been accessed with X-ray diffraction. The cantilever devices have been fabricated using a one-step etch and release process; the beam length has been varied between 50 and 200 µm. Resonant frequencies in the range 110 KHz – 1.5 MHz and 50 – 750 KHz have been obtained for single crystal and polycrystalline SiC devices, respectively. Furthermore, the experimental resonance frequencies have been used to calculate the Young’s Modulus E for the two different types of SiC. The single crystal SiC, possessing a very high Young’s Modulus (446 GPa), should be an optimal material for RF-MEMS applications.

Abstract: Chloride-based 4H-SiC epitaxial layers were investigated by DLTS, MCTS and PL. The DLTS spectra of the as grown samples showed dominance of the Z1/2 and the EH6/7 peaks. For growth rates exceeding 100 µm/h, an additional peak occurred in the DLTS spectra which can be assigned to the UT1 defect. The shallow and the deep boron complexes as well as the HS1 defect are observed in MCTS measurements. The PL spectra are completely dominated by the near band gap (NBG) emission. No luminescence from donor-acceptor pair occurred. The PL line related to the D1 centre was weakly observed. In the NBG region nitrogen bound exciton (N-BE) and free exciton (FE) related lines could be seen. The addition of chlorine in the growth process gives the advantage of high growth rates without the introduction of additional defects.

Abstract: The paper presents experimental data on the temperature dependence and the excitation properties of the phosphorus-related photoluminescence in 4H SiC. Two main sets of phonon replicas can be observed with selective excitation, which are attributed to two of the no-phonon lines observed in the spectrum. Some of the excited states are also attributed to one of the no-phonon lines on the ground of the selectively excited spectra. A tentative explanation of the observed features in terms of multiple bound excitons is proposed.

Abstract: Homoepitaxial growth has been performed on Si-face nominally on-axis 4H-SiC substrates. Special attention was paid to the surface preparation before starting the growth. Si-face polished surfaces were studied after etching under C-rich, Si-rich and under pure hydrogen ambient conditions. In-situ surface preparation, starting growth parameters and growth temperature are found to play a vital role to maintain the polytype stability in the epilayer. High quality epilayers with 100% 4H-SiC were obtained on full 2” wafer. Complete PiN structure was grown and more than 70% of the diodes showed a stable behavior and the forward voltage drift was less than 0.1 V. Also, a comparison of the electroluminescence images of diodes before and after heavy injection of 125 A/cm2 for 30 min did not show any sign of stacking fault formation in the device active region.

Abstract: Homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC on on-axis Si-face substrates is reported using hydrogen chloride together with silane and ethylene. In this study, the main process parameters, such as temperature, Cl/Si ratio, C/Si ratio, Si/H2 ratio and ramp up conditions, were studied in detail to understand their effects on the growth mechanisms. Two different optimal epitaxial growth conditions were found. Silicon rich conditions and a high Cl/Si ratio were the key parameters to grow thick homoepitaxial layers with a very low background doping concentration and a growth rate higher than 20 μm/h.