Papers by Author: Mikael Syväjärvi

Abstract: Different sublimation growth conditions of 3C-SiC approaching a bulk process have been investigated with the focus on appearance of macrodefects. The growth rate of 3C-SiC crystals grown on 6H-SiC varied from 380 to 460 μm/h with the thickness of the crystals from 190 to 230 μm, respectively. The formation of macrodefects with void character was revealed at the early stage of 3C-SiC crystal growth. The highest concentration of macrodefects appears in the vicinity of the domain in samples grown under high temperature gradient and fastest temperature ramp up. The formation of macrodefects was related to carbon deficiency which appear due to high Si/C ratio which is used to enable formation of the 3C-SiC polytype.

Abstract: In the present work the structural quality of 3C-SiC layers grown by sublimation epitaxy is studied by means of conventional and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The layers were grown on Si-face 6H-SiC nominally on-axis substrates at a temperature of 2000°C and different temperature gradients, ranging from 5 to 8 °C /mm. The influence of the temperature gradient on the structural quality of the layers is discussed. The formation of specific twin complexes and conditions for lower stacking fault density are investigated.

Abstract: 3C-SiC layers have been grown by using sublimation epitaxy at a temperature of 2000°C, on different types of on-axis 6H-SiC(0001) substrates. The influence of the type of substrate on the morphology of the layers investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is discussed. Stacking faults are studied by reciprocal space map (RSM) which shows that double positions domains exists.

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: Epitaxial growth of cubic silicon carbide on 6H-SiC substrates, and 6H-SiC substrates with (111) 3C-SiC buffer layer, deposited by vapour liquid solid mechanism, was compared. The morphological details of the grown layers were studied by optical microscopy and their microstructure by transmission electron microscopy. The influence of the substrate on the nucleation of 3C-SiC, the initial homoepitaxial 6H-SiC nucleation before 3C-SiC as well as the formation of defects, are discussed.

Abstract: The initial stage of heteroepitaxial growth of 3C-SiC and homoepitaxial growth of 6H-SiC on nominal 6H-SiC on-axis substrates has been studied. Before 3C-SiC starts to nucleate, 6H-SiC grows in a step-flow growth mode due to a slight off-orientation of the substrate surface already at about 1500oC. In the 1650-1700oC temperature interval 3C-SiC nucleates as 2D islands. A distance away from the 3C-SiC island 6H-SiC grows in step-flow mechanism. In the vicinity of the 3C-SiC islands the 6H-SiC growth steps start to change direction and even split into two steps with the equal height of 0.5 nm, which is approaching the unit cell size of cubic SiC. When the supersaturation is lower in comparison with the conditions for 3C-SiC growth, there is only formation of 6H-SiC, i.e. homoepitaxial growth. The growth mode of 6H-SiC is dependent on temperature. At the lowest temperature there is spiral growth while at higher temperature 2D nucleation is preferred.

Abstract: The present paper deals with morphological and structural investigation of 3C-SiC layers grown by sublimation epitaxy on on axis 6H-SiC(0001) at source temperature 2000 °C, under vacuum conditions (<10-5 mbar) and different temperature gradients in the range of 5-8 °C/mm. The layer grown at a temperature gradient 6 °C/mm has the largest average domain size of 0.4 mm2 assessed by optical microscope in transmission mode. The rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) of (111) reflection is 43 arcsec which suggests good crystalline quality. The AFM image of the same layer shows steps with height 0.25 nm and 0.75 nm which are characteristic of a stacking fault free 3C-SiC surface and c-axis repeat height, respectively.

Abstract: The co-doping of nitrogen and aluminum has been studied in the sublimation epitaxy growth process. It is shown that the doping may be tuned from n-type to p-type by effect of substrate doping, growth face and volume of the growth crucible. The co-doped layers show a nearly ideal I V characteristic and luminescence at room temperature.

Abstract: We applied a picosecond transient grating technique for studies of nonequilibrium carrier dynamics in differently grown or doped SiC polytypes. Optical carrier injection in 4H-SiC at two different wavelengths (266 and 355 nm) allowed us to vary the depth of the photoexcited region and determine photoelectric parameters of high density (from ~1016 to ~1019 cm-3) carrier plasma in the temperature range 10 – 300 K. A strong decrease of carrier lifetime with increasing nonequlibrium carrier density was found in 4H-SiC samples at 300 K and fitted by bimolecular recombination with coefficient B = 3 × 10-11 cm3 s-1. In 3C-SiC epilayers, the opposite tendency was observed over a wide temperature range and attributed to recharging of defect states.

Abstract: In this report we present results on growth and characterization of AlN wires and thin films on SiC substrates. We have employed PVT technique in close space geometry for AlN deposition on SiC off oriented substrates, most of which were prepared to have scratch-free smooth as-grown surface by SiC sublimation epitaxy. By manipulating the surface kinetics we have been able to determine growth conditions yielding discontinuous or continuous morphologies corresponding to nanowires and thin films, respectively. A particular feature of the latter experiments is the fast temperature ramp up at the growth initiation. The AlN surface morphology was characterized by optical, AFM and XRD tools, which showed good crystal quality independent of the growth mode.