Papers by Author: Jean Camassel

Abstract: Epitaxial graphene was grown on the surface of on-axis and off-axis SiC (0001) by solid state graphitization at high temperatures (2000 °C) in Ar ambient. The effect of the miscut angle on the lateral uniformity of the few layers of graphene (FLG) was investigated by combined application of micro-Raman spectroscopy and Torsion Resonance Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy, the latter method enabling a quantification of the FLG coverage on SiC with submicrometer lateral resolution. While the on-axis samples result in uniform coverage by thin (~ 3 monolayers) FLG, the coverage for off-axis samples is much less uniform, following closely the step bunching morphology of the SiC surface.

Abstract: Ga-doped 3C-SiC layers have been grown on on-axis 6H-SiC (0001) substrates by the VLS technique and investigated by low temperature photoluminescence (LTPL) measurements. On these Ga-doped samples, all experimental spectra collected at 5K were found dominated by strong N-Ga donor-acceptor pair (DAP) transitions and phonon replicas. As expected, the N-Ga DAP zero-phonon line (ZPL) was located at lower energy (~ 86 meV) below the N-Al one. Fitting the transition energies for the N-Al close DAP lines gave 251 meV for the Al acceptor binding energy in 3C-SiC and, by comparison, 337 meV for the Ga acceptor one.

Abstract: In the present work the defects appearing in layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy on different substrates are compared. The used seeds were (i) 3C-SiC with (111) orientation, grown heteroepitaxially on (0001) 4H-SiC or 6H-SiC substrates by continuous feed physical vapour transport process and the vapour-liquid-solid mechanism, respectively, and (ii) 3C-SiC wafer with (100) orientation from HOYA. The structural and optical investigation showed that (i) on the (111) substrates, due to the appearance of silicon and 6H-SiC inclusions, a layer which consisted of a sequence of long period polytypes was formed. The dominant polytype formed was 21R-SiC, which after successive transformation to 39R- and 57R- SiC led to the formation of 6H-SiC on the top of the layer. (ii) On the (100) substrates, a 3C-SiC layer with comparatively uniform defect density was formed. The main defects were stacking faults and their density was reducing during the process.

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: Both, n-type and p-type 3C-SiC samples grown on 6H-SiC substrates by sublimation epitaxy have been investigated. From low temperature photoluminescence studies, we demonstrate a low level of residual (n and/or p-type) doping with weak compensation, which is confirmed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy in the case of p-type samples.

Abstract: We report the results of a systematic investigation performed to reduce the residual n-type doping level of the 3C-SiC layers grown by the VLS mechanism on 6H-SiC(0001) on-axis substrate. This new approach, termed “High purity VLS” leads to low doped and low compensated material, which was confirmed by Raman and Low Temperature Photoluminescence spectroscopy. The resultant 3C morphology remains typical of single-domain layers and the n-type doping level could be estimated around 6x1016 cm-3.

Abstract: A detailed investigation of the Ge concentration in implanted samples has been carried out by SIMS and the effects affecting the depth distribution and measurement results have been determined. It is found that the MCs+ SIMS technique is best suited to investigate Gex(4H-SiC)1-x solid solutions up to x=0.2, while the O2+ SIMS configuration is limited to x=0.1. The Ge concentrations obtained by SIMS are very close to the nominal values. On the opposite, performing a comparison with previous RBS data, we find that the RBS values are systematically underestimated by ~30%. Finally, at very high dose, we find that some of the implanted species are lost by recoil and sputtering effects.

Abstract: The electronic structure of in-grown 8H stacking faults in 4H-SiC matrix has been investigated in detail. After assessment of the structural properties by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, we focus on the electronic structure. We show that one unit cell of 8H does not behave like a single type-II quantum well but, rather, like two type-II quantum wells of 3C coupled by a thin hexagonal barrier. Using a transfer matrix method, we compute the corresponding transition energies, taking into account the effect of the valence band offset and built-in electric field. A good agreement is found with the experimental data collected from low temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy.

Abstract: Photoluminescence(PL)-topography is a powerful method to determine the charge carrier concentration of SiC-wafers. The following work describes the development of a PL-topography method for the determination of charge carrier distribution in p-type SiC and shows the correlation of PL-Intensity and charge carrier concentration. With this setup it is possible to characterize wafers up to a size of 2” at room- and low temperature in a non-destructive way.

Abstract: We report an investigation of few layers graphene exfoliated on SiC. Using AFM and Raman spectroscopy, we find that the graphene thickness determined from the normalized intensity of Raman lines significantly depart from the one obtained using XPS.