Materials Science Forum Vols. 600-603

Abstract: A polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) surface-micromachined capacitive accelerometer is designed, fabricated and tested. Leveraging the superior thermo-mechanical and chemical resistance properties of SiC, the device is a first step toward cost-effective implementation of a new class of extreme environment accelerometers, for example for high temperature vibration and shock measurements, even thought this initial work is at room temperature. The accelerometer described herein is designed for a range of 5000 g and a bandwidth of 18 kHz, specifications consistent with commercially available piezoelectric devices for high-level mechanical impact measurements. Test results demonstrate the sensor achieving a resolution of 350 mg/√Hz at 1kHz with a sensitivity of 12 μV/g and a bandwidth of 10 kHz at room temperature.

Abstract: Micro-hotplate platforms, including the heating and sensing resistors, are fabricated by surface micromachining techniques from nitrogen-doped, polycrystalline SiC films deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. The resulting heated elements are operated without the need for metal electrodes. For comparison, platinum is also used as the heating/sensing resistor on top of otherwise similar SiC micro-hotplates. After characterizing the fundamental thermal transient response of the resulting micro-hotplates, accelerated aging tests are carried out by increasing the input power until the heating resistors fail. Material-related kinetic degradation analysis is conducted to estimate the life time of such elements as infrared emitters.

Abstract: This paper presents the mechanical properties of 3C-SiC thin film according to 0, 7, and 10 % carrier gas (H2) concentrations using Nano-Indentation. When carrier gas (H2) concentration was 10 %, it has been proved that the mechanical properties, Young’s Modulus and Hardness, of 3C-SiC are the best of them. In the case of 10 % carrier gas (H2) concentration, Young’s Modulus and Hardness were obtained as 367 GPa and 36 GPa, respectively. When the surface roughness according to carrier gas (H2) concentrations was investigated by AFM (atomic force microscope), when carrier gas (H2) concentration was 10 %, the roughness of 3C-SiC thin was 9.92 nm, which is also the best of them. Therefore, in order to apply poly 3C-SiC thin films to MEMS applications, carrier gas (H2) concentration’s rate should increase to obtain better mechanical properties and surface roughness.

Abstract: Columnar porous Si-face 6H-SiC substrates were prepared by a photo-electrochemical etching method and applied as nanoimprint lithography (NIL) stamps. The diameter of the pores in the porous region was about 20 nm and the center-to-center separation between pores was about 60 nm. The columnar porous SiC substrates were subjected to a vapor phase silanization treatment whereby a monolayer of perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (FOTS) was deposited in order to keep the stamps from sticking to the substrates during the imprint step. Subsequently, the porous SiC stamps were used to imprint polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) at elevated temperatures and pressures. The imprinted PMMA could then be used to transfer the nanopattern on the columnar porous SiC to other substrates for various purposes; e.g. templates for GaN regrowth, catalysts for nanowire growth by vapor-liquid-solid type methods (VLS), etc. SiC is not typically used for NIL stamps since etch processing of SiC is less mature than that of Si. However, as demonstrated here, there is no reason why SiC cannot be used as a material for NIL stamps. The superior mechanical properties to Si make the use of SiC alluring as a master template for NIL processing.

Abstract: This paper describes magnetron reactive ion etching (RIE) characteristics of polycrystalline (poly) 3C-SiC thin films grown on thermally oxidized Si substrates by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD). The best vertical structures were obtained by the addition of 40 % O2, 16 % Ar, and 44 % CHF3 reactive gas at 40 mTorr of chamber pressure. Stable etching was achieved at 70 W and the poly 3C-SiC was undamaged. These results show that in a magnetron RIE system, it is possible to etch SiC with lower power than that of the commercial RIE system. Therefore, poly 3C-SiC etched by magnetron RIE has the potential to be applied to micro/nano electro mechanical systems (M/NEMS).

Abstract: We carried out cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation of femtosecond laser-induced ripples formed on 4H-SiC single crystal surface. Here, we paid attention to the crystal structures underlying the coarse and fine ripples and the three-dimensional distribution of amorphous phase. Conventional and high-resolution TEM analyses made clear that a continuous amorphous layer approximately of 50 nm thick exist at the topmost region of both coarse and fine ripples. The result strongly suggests that the fundamental surface deformation process is common for coarse and fine ripples, even though the factors which determine their periods are different.

Abstract: In this paper, we review the state of the art of SiC switches and the technical issues which remain. Specifically, we will review the progress and remaining challenges associated with SiC power MOSFETs and BJTs. The most difficult issue when fabricating MOSFETs has been an excessive variation in threshold voltage from batch to batch. This difficulty arises due to the fact that the threshold voltage is determined by the difference between two large numbers, namely, a large fixed oxide charge and a large negative charge in the interface traps. There may also be some significant charge captured in the bulk traps in SiC and SiO2. The effect of recombination-induced stacking faults (SFs) on majority carrier mobility has been confirmed with 10 kV Merged PN Schottky (MPS) diodes and MOSFETs. The same SFs have been found to be responsible for degradation of BJTs.

Abstract: Today a main focus in high efficiency power electronics based on silicon carbide (SiC) lies on the development of an unipolar SiC switch. This paper comments on the advantages of SiC switching devices in comparison to silicon (Si) switches, the decision for the SiC JFET against the SiC MOSFET, and will show new experimental results on SiC JFETs with focus on the production related topics like process window and parameter homogeneity which can be achieved with the presented device concept. Due to material properties unipolar SiC switches have, other than their Si high voltage counterparts, very low gate charge, good body diode performance, and reduced switching losses because of the potential of lower in- and output capacitances. The most common unipolar switch is the MOSFET. However, the big challenge in the case of a SiC MOSFET is the gate oxide. A gate oxide on SiC that provides adequate performance and reliability is missing until now. An alternative unipolar switching device is a normally-on JFET. The normally-on behavior is a benefit for current driven applications. If a normally-off behavior is necessary the JFET can be used together with a low voltage Si MOSFET in a cascode arrangement. Recently manufactured SiC JFETs show results in very good accordance to device simulation and demonstrate the possibility to fabricate a SiC JFET within a mass production. A growing market opportunity for such a SiC switch becomes visible.