Materials Science Forum Vols. 645-648

Abstract: This paper reports on the electrical characteristics of thermally grown SiO2 on cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC). The 3C-SiC (111) was grown on Si-face 6H-SiC (0001) on-axis substrates by a non-conventional Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) technique. Scanning probe microscopy techniques, including Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Capacitance Microscopy (SCM) and tunneling AFM (TUNA) were employed to study the morphology, local capacitance and local current variations across the sample surface. This nanoscale investigation allowed monitoring the homogeneity, as well as reliability in terms of dielectric breakdown (BD), of the thermally grown SiO2. In this way it was possible to gain insights into the breakdown related to pre-existing defects (extrinsic breakdown) as well as the actual intrinsic breakdown of the dielectric.

Abstract: Electrical properties of MOD-derived CeO2 film deposited on n-type 4H-SiC have been investigated. Post-deposition annealing of the oxide was performed in argon ambient for 15 minutes at 600, 800, and 1000°C in order to optimize the oxide properties. Spin-on coating was then used to deposit the annealed oxide onto the substrate. Results indicated that the effective oxide charge and slow trap density increased as temperature increased. Negative effective oxide charges were revealed in all annealed oxides. The lowest leakage current and interface trap density was obtained in the sample annealed in the highest temperature.

Abstract: In this work nanostructures based on a 30 nm thick 3C-SiC (100) heteroepitaxially grown on Si(100) are demonstrated. They consist of free standing nanoresonators with dimensions below 50 nm. The free standing nanostructures and resonators were defined by electron beam lithography using hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) as a negative tone e-beam resist acting as a selective etching mask during the anisotropic and isotropic dry etching. The influences of the proximity effect, the crystallographic orientation, the angle of exposing on the feature size are highlighted.

Abstract: In this study, a SiC on insulator growth is optimized, in order to electrically isolate the active structural layer towards the substrate. High quality single crystalline SiC was grown on SOI and SIS substrates. Smooth surface, low stress and bowing, confirmed by microscopy techniques, SEM, AFM, X-Ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, have been obtained. SiC electrostatic resonators on insulated substrates were also fabricated, and electrically driven. These results demonstrate that this material is very promising for MEMS application requiring isolation from the substrate and operation in harsh ambient.

Abstract: In order to realize complex three dimensional or free standing structures on SiC substrates, an undercut, i.e. a selective isotropic etching process of SiC, is required. This was realized using an electron cyclotron resonance etching set up with pure SF6 and a SF6/Ar gas composition at elevated substrate temperatures. Above 350°C a significant lateral etch component was observed, which rose to a value of 50-70 nm/min increasing the substrate temperature up to 570°C during the etching process. Depending on substrate temperature the etching profiles and surface roughness were studied. Based on an analysis of the influence of microwave power, working pressure, bias voltage, gas flow and gas mixture on the etching behavior a novel isotropic, high selective, residue free etch process for SiC was developed, which allows for example the fabrication of piezoelectric actuated AlGaN/GaN resonators grown on SiC substrates.

Abstract: Ultra-precision machining is dominated by single-crystal diamond cutting tools, and is typically applied to a narrow range of materials, particularly aluminum and copper. Single-crystal SiC can be comparable to some diamonds in hardness and thermal conductivity, while potentially having superior chemical and thermal stability, yet it has not been explored as a cutting tool for ultra-precision machining. We made two cutting tools with single-crystal SiC, one with sharp corners and one with a large circular radius, and used them to cut flat surfaces on two materials, 316 stainless steel and nickel. These materials generally cause unacceptably rapid diamond tool wear. We report the average roughness of the resulting surfaces cut with single-crystal 4H and 6H SiC tools.

Abstract: In order to reduce the on-resistance in vertical power transistors, backside thinning is required after device processing. However, it is difficult to thin an SiC wafer with a high yield rate by conventional mechanical machining because its high hardness and brittleness cause cracking and chipping during thinning. In this study, a small rectangular SiC sample was thinned by plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM), which is plasma etching using atmospheric-pressure plasma. As a result, the sample was successfully thinned to 40 m without any cracking or chipping. Furthermore, the surface roughness was improved after thinning, and the edge of the wafer became rounded automatically. Therefore, PCVM can be used as an effective method for thinning SiC wafers.

Abstract: The manipulation of nucleation and growth conditions with Ge deposition prior to the carbonization and epitaxial growth changes the residual stress and the material quality of 3C-SiC(100)-layers grown on Si(100). This enables the modification of quality factor and resonant frequency of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based on 3C-SiC-layers. Measured resonant frequencies and quality factors of the magnetomotively actuated MEMS exhibit a dependence on the Ge amount at the interface of the Si/SiC heterostructure. This offers a degree of freedom to adjust the MEMS properties within a certain range to the requirements necessary for specific applications. The observed dependencies of the Young’s modulus are in good agreement with the trends of residual stress and Young’s modulus, which were determined on as grown 3C-SiC(100):Ge samples by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nanoindentation.

Abstract: The fabrication of SiC MEMS-based sensors requires new processes able to realize microstructures on either bulk material or on the SiC surface. The hetero-epitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on silicon substrates allows one to overcome the traditional limitations of SiC micro-fabrication. In this work a comparison between single crystal and poly crystal 3C-SiC micro-machined structures will be presented. The free-standing structures realized (cantilevers and membrane) are also a suitable method for residual field stress investigation in 3C-SiC films. Measurement of the Raman shift indicates that the mono and poly-crystal 3C-SiC structures release the stress in different ways. Finite element analysis was performed to determine the stress field inside the films and provided a good fit to the experimental data. A comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of 3C-SiC MEMS structures has been performed and is presented.

Abstract: We report on the discharge gas of the electric discharge machining (EDM) for silicon carbide (SiC) single crystal. We investigated the cutting speed and the kerf loss of EDM for SiC by using three kinds discharge gases: Ar, Ar+CH4(10%) and Ar+CF4(10%). The maximum cutting speed of EDM in Ar, Ar+CH4(10%) and Ar+CF4(10%) was 0.02mm/min, 0.04 mm/min and 0.06 mm/min, respectively. The kerf loss of EDM in Ar, Ar+CH4(10%) and Ar+CF4(10%) was 490m, 430m and 470m, respectively. It is shown that cutting with a smooth edge and low kerf loss is faster by mixing CH4 or CF4 in Ar.