Materials Science Forum Vols. 645-648

Abstract: The influence of nitrogen impurity on the stabilization of 3C-SiC polytype has been studied during vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) growth on 6H-SiC(0001) seed with Si-Ge melt. By changing the partial pressure of N2 during growth, it was found that the proportion of 3C-SiC inside the grown material increases with N2 partial pressure. 6H inclusions are only found for high purity (low N2 content) conditions. The possible interactions proposed to explain this effect are divided in two effects: i) lattice parameter modification and ii) surface induced lateral enlargement variation. A combination of both effects is suspected.

Abstract: Growth of 3C-SiC films on an off-axis (111) Si substrate, with a miscut of 4° towards the <110> direction, is here reported. An extensive material characterization has been conducted by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, indicating a very promising film quality with extremely flat surface and interface. Notwithstanding the excellent film quality, the wafer bow is still limiting its full employment in device realization.

Abstract: We report the results of a systematic investigation performed to reduce the residual n-type doping level of the 3C-SiC layers grown by the VLS mechanism on 6H-SiC(0001) on-axis substrate. This new approach, termed “High purity VLS” leads to low doped and low compensated material, which was confirmed by Raman and Low Temperature Photoluminescence spectroscopy. The resultant 3C morphology remains typical of single-domain layers and the n-type doping level could be estimated around 6x1016 cm-3.

Abstract: Epitaxial growth of cubic silicon carbide on 6H-SiC substrates, and 6H-SiC substrates with (111) 3C-SiC buffer layer, deposited by vapour liquid solid mechanism, was compared. The morphological details of the grown layers were studied by optical microscopy and their microstructure by transmission electron microscopy. The influence of the substrate on the nucleation of 3C-SiC, the initial homoepitaxial 6H-SiC nucleation before 3C-SiC as well as the formation of defects, are discussed.

Abstract: Both, n-type and p-type 3C-SiC samples grown on 6H-SiC substrates by sublimation epitaxy have been investigated. From low temperature photoluminescence studies, we demonstrate a low level of residual (n and/or p-type) doping with weak compensation, which is confirmed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy in the case of p-type samples.

Abstract: 3C-SiC layers have been grown by using sublimation epitaxy at a temperature of 2000°C, on different types of on-axis 6H-SiC(0001) substrates. The influence of the type of substrate on the morphology of the layers investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is discussed. Stacking faults are studied by reciprocal space map (RSM) which shows that double positions domains exists.

Abstract: Growth of SiC nanowires on commercial 4H-SiC substrates by chemical vapor deposition is reported. The main objective was to explore a possibility of reproducing the substrate polytype in order to obtain SiC NWs specifically composed of the hexagonal 4H-SiC polytype. The growth experiments were conducted in a hot-wall CVD reactor with H2 as the carrier gas, SiCl4 as the silicon source, and CH3Cl as the carbon source. Vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mode was enabled by using metal nano-particle on the surface of the 4H-SiC substrates. Formation of nanowires or bigger nano-cones was achieved depending on the temperature and the metal catalyst used. Only SiC phase with no presence of Si was confirmed by X-ray diffraction for the growth temperatures down to 1050°C. The low temperature photoluminescence spectra measured on as-grown NWs showed clear 4H-SiC nitrogen bound excitons in some of the samples, particularly when in-situ N2 doping was used. The density of stacking faults detected by TEM strongly depended on the growth conditions.

Abstract: The identification of defects limiting the carrier lifetime in n- epilayers of 4H-SiC is reviewed. The dominant electron traps, the Z1/2 and EH6/7 defects, believed to be VC-related, have been correlated to the lifetime in several studies. It was later shown that only one center, Z1/2 , actually controls the bulk lifetime. In recently-grown material with low Z1/2 concentration, other processes dominate. Recent measurements indicate that surface recombination controls the lifetime.

Abstract: Temperature and injection level dependencies of carrier lifetimes in p-type and n-type 4H-SiC epilayers have been investigated. The carrier lifetimes have been measured by differential microwave photoconductance decay measurements at various injection levels and temperatures. In both p-type and n-type epilayers, the carrier lifetimes gradually increased with increasing the injection level except for the very high injection condition. And the carrier lifetimes exhibited continuous increase with elevating the temperature for both epilayers. The carrier lifetime reached 3.3 µs in p-type and 4.2 µs in n-type epilayers at 250°C and an injection level of 1.8x1016 cm-3.

Abstract: The temperature dependence of the carrier lifetime was measured in n-type 4H-SiC epilayers of varying Z1/2 deep defect concentrations and layer thicknesses in order to investigate the recombination processes controlling the carrier lifetime in low- Z1/2 material. The results indicate that in more recently grown layers with lower deep defect concentrations, surface recombination tends to dominate over carrier capture by other bulk defects. Low-injection lifetime measurements were also found to provide a convenient method to assess the surface band bending and surface trap density in samples with a significant surface recombination rate.