Papers by Author: Ning Zhang

Abstract: Observations of dislocation nucleation occurring at substrate surface scratches during 4H-SiC CVD homoepitaxial growth are reported. Sub-surface residual damage associated with the scratches is observed to act as nucleation sites for basal plane dislocations (BPDs), threading edge dislocations (TEDs) and threading screw dislocations (TSDs) in the epilayer. TEDs and BPDs replicate from the surface intersections of basal plane dislocation half-loops injected into the substrate surface. A model for the nucleation mechanism of TSDs, which nucleate in opposite sign pairs, is presented which involves overgrowth of surface indentations associated with the scratch during step flow growth. Atomic steps which approach these local surface indentations can collapse creating pairs of opposite sign screw dislocations which have Burgers vector magnitude equal to the magnitude of the step disregistry created during the collapse.

Abstract: Synchrotron White Beam X-ray Topography (SWBXT) studies are presented of basal plane dislocation (BPD) configurations and behavior in a new generation of 100mm diameter, 4H-SiC wafers with extremely low BPD densities (3-4 x 102 cm-2). The conversion of non-screw oriented, glissile BPDs into sessile threading edge dislocations (TEDs) is observed to provide pinning points for the operation of single ended Frank-Read sources. In some regions, once converted TEDs are observed to re-convert back into BPDs in a repetitive process which provides multiple BPD pinning points.

Abstract: The influence of substrate surface scratches on the quality of CVD grown 4H-SiC homo-epitaxial layers has been studied using a combination of post-growth Monochromatic Synchrotron X-ray Topography (MSXT) and KOH etching. MSXT observations suggest that the scratches on the substrate surface act as dislocation nucleation centers during the growth. When the scratch is along the off-cut direction, only TED-TED pairs are generated. As the inclination of the scratch to the off-cut direction increases, an increasing number of TED-BPD pairs are generated. A model is presented for a possible mechanism for the nucleation of dislocations at scratches.

Abstract: Electron-hole recombination activated Shockley partial dislocations bounding expanding stacking faults and their interactions with threading dislocations have been studied in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers using synchrotron x-ray topography. The bounding partials appear as white stripes or narrow dark lines in back-reflection X-ray topographs recorded using the basal plane reflections. Such contrast variations are attributable to the defocusing/focusing of the diffracted X-rays due to the edge component of the partial dislocations, which creates a convex/concave distortion of the basal planes. Simulation results based on the ray-tracing principle confirm our argument. The sign of the partial dislocations can be subsequently determined.

Abstract: The density and sense distribution of elementary threading screw dislocations in a physical vapor transport grown 3-inch 4H silicon carbide wafer have been studied. The density of TSDs ranges between 1.6×103/cm2 and 7.1×103/cm2 and the lowest density is observed at positions approximately half radius off the wafer center. The dislocation sense of elementary threading screw dislocations can be readily revealed by the asymmetric contrast of their images in grazing-incidence x-ray topographs using pyramidal plane reflections. The circumferential and radial distributions of the sense of elementary threading screw dislocations have been studied and no clear trends are observed in either distribution.