Papers by Author: Patrick J. McNally

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: We present herein a first comparative analysis of the quality of 50 mm and 75 mm diameter SiC wafers, purchased directly from vendors across the world, types including the most widely available configurations. Large Area White Beam Synchrotron Back Reflection X-Ray Topography was used to analyse selected ~1cm2 regions at various locations on up to 10 different bulk SiC wafers. The study concentrated particularly on the density and distribution of threading screw dislocations (TSDs). We also examined all wafers for basal plane dislocation (BPDs) densities and distributions. Alarmingly large variation in wafer quality was observed. TSD densities vary from a minimum of 0 cm-2 (in a-plane material) to values as large as over 2,000 cm-2 on some n-type 4H-SiC wafers. TSD densities on individual wafers can also vary by similar magnitudes, e.g. 500cm-2 to 2,500 cm-2 on two regions only 2 cm apart on a 50 mm diameter wafer. Computer-based image process analysis was used to present a statistical analysis of the distributions of defects. For example algorithms created in MATLAB®, Image Processing Toolbox, isolated possible TSD locations allowing rapid counting to be performed. These counts were confirmed by manual counting of selected unmodified images.

Abstract: We report on the growth of 4H-SiC epitaxial layer on Si-face polished nominally on-axis 2” full wafer, using Hot-Wall CVD epitaxy. The polytype stability has been maintained over the larger part of the wafer, but 3C inclusions have not been possible to avoid. Special attention has given to the mechanism of generation and propagation of 3C polytype in 4H-SiC epilayer. Different optical and structural techniques were used to characterize the material and to understand the growth mechanisms. It was found that all 3C inclusions were generated at the interface between the substrate and the epitaxial layer, and no 3C inclusions were initiated at later stages of the growth.