Papers by Keyword: On-Axis

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: This paper deals with the comparison of several MOS structures with different rapid thermal oxidation processes (RTO) carried out on Off and On-axis SiC material. A first set contains MOS capacitance structures on n-epitaxial layers, while a second set of MOS capacitance are built on p-implanted layers. Both sets include On and Off-Axis angle cuts. Furthermore, n-MOSFETs have been fabricated on On-axis p-implanted layers with the best oxidation process selected from the MOS capacitance study. The final objective is to show the performances of these On-axis p-implanted n-MOSFETs and to evidence the associated lower surface roughness at the SiO₂/SiC interface.

Abstract: We demonstrate on-axis homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC(0001) PiN structure on 3-inch wafers with 100% 4H polytype in the epilayer excluding the edges. The layers were grown with a thickness of 105 µm and controlled n-type doping of 4 x 1014 cm-3.The epilayers were completely free of basal plane dislocations, in-grown stacking faults and other epitaxial defects, as required for 10 kV high power bipolar devices. Some part of the wafer had a lifetime enhancement procedure to increase lifetime to above 2 s using carbon implantation. An additional step of epilayer polishing was adapted to reduce surface roughness and implantation damage.

Abstract: Micro-Raman spectroscopy is an excellent non-destructive analysis method, which compensates for disadvantages of KOH method. Raman shift of A1(LO) and E1(TO) band at threading screw dislocation(TSD) were investigated in n-type on/off-axis 4H- and 6H-SiC single crystal wafers by Micro-Raman scattering at room temperature. The results showed that A1(LO) band were shifted toward higher frequency while the E1(TO) band were shifted toward lower frequency on the on-axis wafers. The shifts are caused by increasing electron concentration and lattice disorder near the dislocation core, respectively. In the off-axis wafers, no shifts were observed possibly due to the measurement geometry which does not contain whole dislocation core.

Abstract: In this report we present homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC on Si-face, nominally on-axis substrates with diameters up to 76 mm in a hot-wall chemical vapor deposition reactor. A comparatively low carrier lifetime has been observed in these layers; local variations in carrier lifetime are different from standard epilayers on off-cut substrates. The properties of the layers were studied with focus on charge carrier lifetime and its correlation with starting growth conditions, inhomogeneities of surface morphology and different growth mechanisms.

Abstract: A good selection of growth parameters (in-situ etching, C/Si ratio, growth rate) enables obtaining of ~1nm high steps of epitaxial layers, which are comparable to the size of an elementary cell (8°off-axis) and achieve the density of BPD=8•103/cm2. Due to crystallization on substrates with low misorientation (<2°off-axis) it is possible to obtain epitaxial layers substantially lacking in BPD dislocations. However, a slightly more developed surface with Ra=1-2.5nm (1.25°, 2°off-axis) characterizes these layers. By lowering the C/Si ratio, morphology of layers crystallized on substrates with low misorientation was improved. Extending growth rate improved both the crystallographic quality of the grown layers and their polytype stability. Nevertheless, growth without BPDs, also referred to as the homogeneous (4H) polytypic growth on 4H-SiC on-axis substrates, is the most efficient way of defect elimination.

Abstract: A chloride-based chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) process has been successfully used to grow very high quality 3C-SiC epitaxial layers on on-axis α-SiC substrates. An accurate process parameters study was performed testing the effect of temperature, in situ surface preparation, precursor ratios, nitrogen addition, and substrate polytype and polarity. The 3C layers deposited showed to be largely single-domain material of very high purity and of excellent electrical characteristics. A growth rate of up to 10 µm/h and a low background doping enable deposition of epitaxial layers suitable for MOSFET devices.

Abstract: The epitaxial growth at 100 µm/h on on-axis 4H-SiC substrates is demonstrated in this study. Chloride-based CVD, which has been shown to be a reliable process to grow SiC epitaxial layers at rates above 100 µm/h on off-cut substrates, was combined with silane in-situ etching. A proper tuning of C/Si and Cl/Si ratios and the combination of different chlorinated precursors resulted in the homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC on Si-face substrates at high rates. Methyltrichlorosilane, added with silane, ethylene and hydrogen chloride were employed as precursors to perform epitaxial growths resulting in very low background doping concentration and high quality material, which could be employed for power devices structure on basal-plane-dislocation-free epitaxial layers.

Abstract: The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) detector placed inside a commercial scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been used to study of different SiC polytypes. Different growth conditions in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method were applied to obtain the 3C- and 4H-SiC polytypes epitaxial layers. Growth processes were conducted on the Si-face on-axis 4H-SiC substrates. The growth temperature was in the range of 1300-1620°C and the reactor pressure was 75mbar. The initial C/Si ratio was varied from 0.075 reaching final value of 1.8. It was observed that intentional ramping of the C/Si ratio at the first stage of the growth clearly influences the 4H/3C factor. The growth temperature and ramping of the C/Si ratio were the main parameters to achieve a homogeneous 3C and 4H-SiC epitaxial layers.

Abstract: Chloride-based growth on on-axis SiC substrates has been studied at higher temperature than typical CVD conditions. The use of chlorinated precursors allows to grow homo-polytypic layers and to achieve high growth rates for thick layers deposition. In this study a vertical reactor with the gas flow inlet at the bottom has been used to grow layers up to 1.5 mm thick. Thanks to the addition of hydrogen chloride (HCl) to the standard precursors mixture, growth rates up to 300 μm/h have been achieved at a process temperature lower than 1900 °C. Very pure layers, micropipe free, and with a low background doping have been grown on 4H and 6H-SiC carbon and silicon-face, respectively, on-axis 3” diameter substrates. The results obtained indicates that this process has the potential to become a novel bulk growth technique at lower temperature than usual, which could give several advantages.