Papers by Author: Rositza Yakimova

Abstract: Fluorescent silicon carbide was grown using the fast sublimation growth process on low off-axis 6H-SiC substrates. In this case, the morphology of the epilayer and the incorporation of dopants are influenced by the Si/C ratio. Differently converted tantalum foils were introduced into the growth cell in order to change vapor phase stochiometry during the growth. Fluorescent SiC grown using fresh and fully converted tantalum foils contained morphological instabilities leading to lower room temperature photoluminescence intensity while an improved morphology and optical stability was achieved with partly converted tantalum foil. This work reflects the importance of considering the use of Ta foil in sublimation epitaxy regarding the morphological and optical stability in fluorescent silicon carbide.

Abstract: Bulk-like 3C-SiC was grown on 1.2 degrees low off-axis 6H-SiC substrates using a sublimation epitaxy technique. The effects of temperature ramp-up and increase in layer thickness on the 3C-SiC domain formation were explored. The temperature ramp-up had no significant effect on the domain size. The domain size was considerably increased and the crystal quality was significantly improved by increasing the thickness of the layer towards bulk-like material. Average full width at half maximum values of 149 arcsec and 65 arcsec were measured in samples with thicknesses of 305 µm and 1080 µm, respectively, at a footprint of 1x3 mm2. This result implies that heteropeitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on low off-axis 6H-SiC substrates by a sublimation method can be used to prepare 3C-SiC seeds or can be further developed for growth of bulk 3C-SiC material.

Abstract: Surface nanocones on 6H-SiC have been developed and demonstrated as an effective method of enhancing the light extraction efficiency from fluorescent SiC layers. The surface reflectance, measured from the opposite direction of light emission, over a broad bandwidth range is significantly suppressed from 20.5% to 1.0 % after introducing the sub-wavelength structures. An omnidirectional light harvesting enhancement (>91%), is also achieved which promotes fluorescent SiC as a good candidate of wavelength converter for white light-emitting diodes.

Abstract: Two dimensional maps of the electronic conductance in epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on SiC were obtained by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). The correlation between morphological and electrical maps revealed the local conductance degradation in EG over the SiC substrate steps or at the junction between monolayer (1L) and bilayer (2L) graphene regions. The effect of steps strongly depends on the charge transfer phenomena between the step sidewall and graphene, whereas the resistance increase at 1L/2L junction is a purely quantum mechanical effect, due to the weak coupling between 1L and 2L electron wavefunctions.

Abstract: Graphene samples were grown on the C-face of SiC, at high temperature in a furnace and an Ar ambient, and were investigated using LEEM, XPEEM, LEED, XPS and ARPES. Formation of fairly large grains (crystallographic domains) of graphene exhibiting sharp 1x1 patterns in m-LEED was revealed and that different grains showed different azimuthal orientations. Selective area constant initial energy photoelectron angular distribution patterns recorded showed the same results, ordered grains and no rotational disorder between adjacent layers. A grain size of up to a few mm was obtained on some samples.

Abstract: Nitrogen-boron doped 6H-SiC epilayers grown on low off-axis 6H-SiC substrates have been characterized by photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. The photoluminescence results show that a doping larger than 10¹⁸ cm^-3 is favorable to observe the luminescence and addition of nitrogen is resulting in an increased luminescence. A dopant concentration difference larger than 4x10¹⁸ cm^-3 is proposed to achieve intense photoluminescence. Raman spectroscopy further confirmed the doping type and concentrations for the samples. The results indicate that N-B doped SiC is being a good wavelength converter in white LEDs applications.

Abstract: Heteroepitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on 0.8 and 1.2 degree off-oriented 6H-SiC substrates was studied using a sublimation growth process. The 3C-SiC layers were grown at high growth rates with layer thickness up to 300 µm. The formation and the quality of 3C-SiC are influenced by the off-orientation of the substrate, the growth temperature (studied temperature range from 1750 °C to 1850°C), and the growth ambient (vacuum at 5*10^-5 mbar and nitrogen at 5*10^-1 mbar). The largest domains of 3C-SiC and the lowest number of double positioning boundaries were grown using nitrogen ambient and the highest growth temperature. The combined use of low off-axis substrate and high growth rate is a potential method to obtain material with bulk properties.

Abstract: The LED technology started to developed many years ago with red light emitting diodes. To achieve the blue LED, novel growth technologies and process steps were explored, and made it possible to demonstrate efficient blue LED performance from nitrides. The efficiency was further developed and blue LEDs were commercially introduced in the 1990’s. The white LED became possible by the use of the blue LED and a phosphor that converts a part of the blue light to other colors in the visible range to combine into white light. However, even today there are limitations in the phosphor-based white LED technology, in particular for general lighting, and new solutions should be explored to speed the pace when white LEDs will be able to make substantial energy savings. In this paper we overview gallium nitride materials evolution and growth concepts for LEDs. We describe the fluorescent silicon carbide material prepared by a novel growth technology for a new type of white LED in general lighting with pure white light. This paper introduces an interesting research in fundamental growth and optical properties of light emitting silicon carbide.

Abstract: In this work a new approach for the production of freestanding cubic silicon carbide (3C SiC) in (001) orientation is presented which is based on the combination of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the fast sublimation growth process (FSGP). Fast homoepitaxial growth of 3C SiC using sublimation epitaxy on a template created by CVD growth on silicon substrates allows to obtain thick freestanding material with low defect densities. Using standard silicon wafers as substrate material permits a cost efficient process and the applying of wafers with different orientations. The (001) orientation used in this work will potentially allow further heteroepitaxial growth of other cubic semiconductors, like e.g. gallium nitride (GaN).

Abstract: The radiative recombination spectra of 6H-SiC epilayers grown on low angle (1.4° off-axis) substrates have been investigated by low temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy. Four different types of stacking faults have been identified, together with the presence of 3C-SiC inclusions. From the energy of the momentum-conserving phonons, four excitonic band gap energies have been found with Egx equal to 2.837, 2.698, 2.600 and 2.525 eV. These photoluminescence features, which give a rapid and non-destructive approach to identify stacking faults in 6H-SiC, provide a direct feedback to improve the material growth.