A process was described to enhance the diffusion rate of impurities in silicon carbide so that doping by thermal diffusion could be done at lower temperatures. This process involved depositing a thin film consisting of an oxide of the impurity followed by annealing in an oxidizing ambient. The process uses the lower formation energy of silicon dioxide relative to that of the impurity-oxide to create vacancies in silicon carbide and to promote dissociation of the impurity-oxide. The impurity atoms then diffused from the thin film into the near-surface region of silicon carbide.

Oxide Film Assisted Dopant Diffusion in Silicon Carbide. C.C.Tin, S.Mendis, K.Chew, I.Atabaev, T.Saliev, E.Bakhranov, B.Atabaev, V.Adedeji, Rusli: Thin Solid Films, 2010, 518[24, Supplement 1], e118-20