A vertical radiant-heating reactor was developed, for thick SiC epitaxial growth, in which the susceptor and substrate were heated by radiation from the hot wall. The benefits of the heating and sample-holding method were demonstrated by improvements in the curvature

of crystal bending and full-width at half-maximum of the X-ray ω-rocking curves followed by epitaxial growth. The typical growth rate was 13 to 16μm/h at 1530 to 1550C at the susceptor top under reduced pressures as low as 50 to 70mbar. Background doping at low as 1013/cm3 was achieved, and some of the 4H–SiC epilayers exhibited a high resistivity. A 4H–SiC epilayer, over 240μm-thick, was grown which had minimal surface roughness. Few signs of impurities were observed by low-temperature photoluminescence, and no impurities (Al, B, Ti, V, Cr) which exceeded 1014/cm3 were found by secondary ion mass spectroscopy for a 150μm-thick 4H–SiC epilayer. Thickness and doping uniformity along the gas flow, of about 5 and 11% respectively, were obtained for 5cm substrates. Molten KOH etching analysis revealed that some of the micropipes were dissociated into closed core screw dislocations during epitaxial growth.

Epitaxial Growth of Thick 4H–SiC Layers in a Vertical Radiant-Heating Reactor. H.Tsuchida, I.Kamata, T.Jikimoto, K.Izumi: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2002, 237-239[2], 1206-12