A Comprehensive Study of Hydrogen Etching on the Major SiC Polytypes and Crystal Orientations

Christopher L. Frewin; Camilla Coletti; Christian Riedl; Ulrich Starke; Stephen E. Saddow

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.615-617.589

Paper Titles

On the Formation of Ni-Based Ohmic Contacts to n-Type 4H-SiC
p.573

Phase Inhomogeneity and Electrical Characteristics of Nickel Silicide Schottky Contacts Formed on 4H-SiC
p.577

Aluminum Doping by Low-Temperature Homoepitaxial Growth for Ni Ohmic Contacts to p-Type 4H-SiC
p.581

Process Optimization for High Temperature SiC Lateral Devices
p.585

A Comprehensive Study of Hydrogen Etching on the Major SiC Polytypes and Crystal Orientations
p.589

HCl Etching Behavior on Low-Tilt-Angle and Step-Free 4H-SiC Surfaces
p.593

Comparison between Polishing Etching of On and Off-Axis C and Si-Faces of 4H-SiC Wafers
p.597

Electrochemical Polishing of p-Type 4H SiC
p.601

The Effect of Slurry Composition and Flatness on Sub-Surface Damage and Removal in Chemical Mechanical Polishing of 6H-SiC
p.605

HomeMaterials Science ForumMaterials Science Forum Vols. 615-617A Comprehensive Study of Hydrogen Etching on the...

A Comprehensive Study of Hydrogen Etching on the Major SiC Polytypes and Crystal Orientations

Abstract:

A comprehensive study on the hydrogen etching of numerous SiC polytype surfaces and orientations has been performed in a hot wall CVD reactor under both atmospheric and low pressure conditions. The polytypes studied were 4H and 6H-SiC as well as 3C-SiC grown on Si substrates. For the hexagonal polytypes the wafer surface orientation was both on- and off-axis, i.e. C and Si face. The investigation includes the influence of the prior surface polishing method on the required etching process parameters. 3C-SiC was also studied grown in both the (100) and (111) orientations. After etching, the samples were analyzed via atomic force microscopy (AFM) to determine the surface morphology and the height of the steps formed. For all cases the process conditions necessary to realize a well-ordered surface consisting of unit cell and sub-unit cell height steps were determined. The results of these experiments are summarized and samples of the corresponding AFM analysis presented.