Papers by Author: Jeffery L. Wyatt

Abstract: We report on the fabrication and testing of SiC p-i-n avalanche photodiodes. APDs of 0.25 mm2 area on a-plane (1120) 6H-SiC as well as off-axis Si face 6H and 4H-SiC were successfully fabricated. A beveled mesa was used as edge termination. Recessed windows were formed using reactive ion etching to enhance low-wavelength UV performance. We performed current-voltage tests with and without UV illumination to determine dark current, photocurrent, and gain on selected devices. Dark current was less than 1 pA at 0.5Vbr on multiple devices. Quantum efficiency of 40% or greater was observed for all orientations and polytypes.

Abstract: Low-temperature epitaxial growth of 4H-SiC with CH3Cl carbon precursor was further developed. In-situ doping with nitrogen and aluminum was investigated. The nitrogen concentration in epitaxial layers grown on the C face was almost two orders of magnitude higher than that in the Si-face epilayers grown in the same growth run at 13000C. The opposite trend was observed for intentional aluminum doping, with more than an order of magnitude higher aluminum concentration incorporated in Si-face epilayers. High values of nitrogen and aluminum doping well in excess of 1020 cm-3 without any obvious epilayer morphology degradation can be achieved on C-face and Siface respectively. Addition of HCl during halo-carbon growth at 13000C resulted in drastic improvement of the surface morphology. Also, a significant increase of the growth rate took place confirming that the improvement in the epilayer morphology during HCl-assisted growth is predominantly related to silicon cluster etching by additional Cl-containing vapor species.

Abstract: In this work, the mechanism of the epitaxial growth of 4H SiC using CH3Cl as the carbon source gas was investigated. The experiments were conducted with a H2 carrier gas flow rate reduced in comparison to the standard conditions used for device-quality, full-wafer C3H8 growth. Low-H2 conditions have been found favorable for investigating the differences between the two gas systems. A non-linear trend of the growth rate dependence on CH3Cl flow was observed. This dependence was quantitatively different for C3H8 growth, which serves as an indication of different kinetics of CH3Cl and C3H8 precursor decomposition, as well as differences in Si droplet formation and dissociation. The maximum growth rate that we were able to achieve was by a factor of two higher for the CH3Cl precursor than for the C3H8 precursor at the same temperature and flow conditions. The growth on lower off-axis angle substrates produced surface morphology degradation similar for both CH3Cl and C3H8 precursor systems.

Abstract: Room temperature Fourier Transform Infrared Reflection Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to investigate the thickness and Free Carrier Concentration (FCC) of heavily and lightly doped 4H and 6H-SiC epitaxial films. Multiple epitaxial layer stacks typical of lateral devices such as the MESFET were grown on 6H-SiC semi-insulating substrates. The estimation of thickness and FCC of the n-channel epi layer is improved by studying the Longitudinal Optical Phonon Plasmon Coupled Modes (LPP). A modelbased analysis of the experimental reflectance spectra from these samples is performed using a dielectric function that accounts for the phonon-photon coupling and plasmonphoton coupling. The value of the LPP+ mode frequency estimated from the reflectance spectrum in the range 600-1200 cm-1 is observed to increase in direct correlation with the electron free-carrier concentration.

Abstract: Mechanisms and consequences of silicon vapor condensation during SiC epitaxial growth or implant annealing with silane overpressure were investigated. The model for the silicon liquid droplets formation in the gas phase and their deposition on the surface of the SiC substrate was developed. The droplet formation dependence on the silane flow rate, temperature profile in the reactor, and the local temperature variations introduced by the wafer carrier and SiC substrate were investigated.

Abstract: The results of the initial experiments with halogenated carbon precursor chloromethane (CH3Cl) for epitaxial growth of 4H-SiC are presented. The growth rate for mirror-like morphology was easily increased up to about 7 µm/hr at C-rich conditions without detectable surface morphology degradation. Further increase of the silane flow resulted in island formation. The growth with the traditional silane-propane system at the same conditions (and optimized Si/C ratio) produced a very different result, with the growth rate decreasing from upstream to downstream, and morphology degradation taking place for much lower growth rate than in CH3Cl growth. Consequently, the epitaxial growth with chloromethane appears to have significantly different kinetics of the gas-phase precursor decomposition and different mechanisms of the surface reactions, which favors the step-flow growth. In addition, these preliminary data indicated that the maximum achievable growth rate corresponding to the good surface morphology may be noticeably larger for the CH3Cl+SiH4+H2 growth system.