Papers by Keyword: Homoepitaxial Growth

Abstract: This paper details the defect inspection and characterization of the 200 mm 4H-SiC (0001) n-type substrate pre-and post-epitaxy. The findings in this paper focus on the characterization of the micropipes (MPs) present in the 200 mm SiC substrate. Following epitaxy, the observations include how the micropipes were propagated from the substrate to the epilayer. This study explores the closing of micropipes during epitaxial growth. As a part of our efforts to better understand the crystal structure and elemental composition of the micropipes in the epilayer, we have conducted SAED and EDX experiments. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report to demonstrate the region near the micropipe sidewall surface, is remarkably Si-rich (~ 9:1) than in the region towards the bulk (~1:1) after SiC epitaxial growth.

Abstract: Homoepitaxial growths of 4H-SiC were performed on Si-face (0001) on-axis substrates in a SiH₄-C₂H₄-H₂-HCl system by using our home-made vertical hot wall CVD reactor. The influence mechanism of the growth temperature and C/Si ratio on the morphology and growth rate was studied. It is found that the steps in the epilayer become more clear with the increasing temperatures. The result indicates that the C/Si ratio window of on-axis epitaxial growth is very narrow. Only when the C/Si ratio was 1.2, a slightly improved surface morphology can be achieved. The results indicate that 4H-SiC epitaxial layers were obtained on on-axis substrates and the films were highly-oriented 4H-SiC.

Abstract: A review of recently achieved results with the chloride-based CVD on 8° and 4° off axis and nominally on-axis 4H-SiC wafers is done to clarify the epitaxial growth mechanisms on different off-angle substrates. The process conditions selected for each off-axis angle become even more difficult when running at growth rates of 100 µm/h or more. A fine-tuning of process parameters mainly temperature, C/Si ratio and in situ surface preparation is necessary for each off-angle. Some trends related to the surface properties and the effective C/Si ratio existing on the surface prior to and during the epitaxial growth can be observed.

Abstract: We performed liquid phase epitaxial growth of SiC layers on on-axis 4H-SiC substrates using Si solvent. It was found that the polytype controllability of the epilayer significantly depends on the growth process conditions. By optimizing them, polytype mixing in the epilayers can be completely suppressed. It is shown that the density of basal plane dislocations in the epilayers is much less than in the substrates due to on-axis growth. SIMS analysis showed that the concentrations of trace impurity elements (B,Al,Ti,V,Cr,Fe,Ni,P) in the epilayers are under lower detection limit. The only impurity is nitrogen resulting in an n-type layer. Carrier concentrations Nd-Na ranging from high 1016 to low 1017cm-3 are achievable.

Abstract: To elucidate the origin of giant step bunching on 4˚ off-axis 4H-SiC (0001) faces, we carried out hydrogen etching and epitaxial growth under various conditions. We found that giant step bunching occurs during hydrogen etching and epitaxial growth at extremely low or high C/Si ratios, i.e., with an excessive supply of SiH4 or C3H8. From these results, we have proposed that the origins of giant step bunching are asymmetry in the step kinetics in etching and Si or C cluster generation on terraces during growth.

Abstract: We have developed a new chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system that is capable of a high growth rate of over 100 µm/h with good uniformities of thickness and carrier concentration. In this CVD system, the process gases contribute efficiently to epitaxial growth. In a demonstration of the abilities of the CVD system, we achieved an average growth rate of 140 µm/h, a thickness uniformity of 3.9%, and a carrier concentration uniformity of 8.9% in a 2-inch wafer, without degradation of the crystallinity.

Abstract: The growth rate of 4H-SiC epi layers has been increased by a factor 19 (up to 112 μm/h) with respect to the standard process with the introduction of HCl in the deposition chamber. The epitaxial layers grown with the addition of HCl have been characterized by electrical, optical and structural characterization methods. An optimized process without the addition of HCl is reported for comparison. The Schottky diodes, manufactured on the epitaxial layer grown with the addition of HCl at 1600 °C, have electrical characteristics comparable with the standard epitaxial process with the advantage of an epitaxial growth rate three times higher.

Abstract: Previously reported CVD epitaxial growth of 4H-SiC at temperatures down to and below 13000C using CH3Cl precursor offered a promise of new device applications that could benefit from lower-temperature growth process. In this work, selective epitaxial growth (SEG) of 4H-SiC mesas using conventional SiO2 low temperature mask is reported. Virtually no nucleation on the mask could be observed after SEG at 13000C. The mask could be easily removed after the growth, with no degradation of the surface of SiC substrate under the mask. For the growth conditions that normally resulted in growth rate of 2 /m/hr and defect-free epilayer morphology during regular full-wafer (non-SEG) epitaxy, the epilayer morphology during SEG was significantly degraded by the appearance of oriented triangular defects, while the growth rate increased more than three times in comparison to the blanket epitaxial growth due to the loading effect. The growth at optimized growth conditions and lower growth rate resulted in significant reduction of the surface defects, making this approach promising for obtaining device-quality mesas. The crystal quality of the mesas, defects at the mesa walls, formation of facets during SEG, and other effects are reported.

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: We have investigated the influence of in-situ H2 etching on the surface morphology of the 4H-SiC substrate prior to homoepitaxial growth. In this study, we varied the types of gas atmosphere during in-situ H2 etching; namely, hydrogen (H2) alone, hydrogen-propane (H2+C3H8), and hydrogen-silane (H2+SiH4). We found that in-situ H2 etching using H2 + SiH4 significantly improved the surface morphology of 4H-SiC substrate just after in-situ H2 etching. By adding SiH4, formation of bunched step structure during in-situ H2 etching could be significantly suppressed. In addition, H2 etching using H2 + SiH4 was able to remove scratches by etching a thinner layer than that using H2 alone. We also discussed the in-situ H2 etching mechanism under the additional SiH4 condition.