Silicon carbide: material and device properties

Flat and well-ordered surfaces of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates are important for electronic devices. Furthermore, researchers have reported that 4H-SiC surface roughness increases by step-bunching during epitaxial growth and annealing. Degradation of device properties induced by surface roughening is of great concern. Therefore, a method to reduce this surface roughening is requested. We have developed a damage-free planarization method called catalyst-referred etching (CARE). In this paper, we planarized 4H-SiC substrates and evaluated the processed surface before and after the epitaxial growth. Then, we reduced the step-bunching on the epi-wafer surface and determined the electrical properties of the Schottky barrier diodes (SBD) on the processed surface.

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Employing Scanning Spreading Resistance Microscopy (SSRM) for Improving TCAD Simulation Accuracy of Silicon Carbide

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.897.295 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 897 ◽

pp. 295-298 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rudolf Elpelt ◽

Bernd Zippelius ◽

Stefan Doering ◽

Uwe Winkler

Keyword(s):

Silicon Carbide ◽

Process Simulation ◽

Computer Aided Design ◽

Simulation Accuracy ◽

Spreading Resistance ◽

New Device ◽

Technology Process ◽

Aided Design ◽

Doping Profiles ◽

Device Properties

Computer-Aided-Design for the prediction of the technology process and the physical device properties (TCAD) is a key tool for the development and improvement of new device concepts as well as for the analysis and understanding of device properties and device behavior under application conditions. Apart from physical device models and parameters the precise process simulation of implanted doping profiles is mandatory for a sufficient prediction quality of the subsequent device simulations. In order to verify and improve the accuracy of process simulation, we employ the – for silicon carbide – relatively new method of Scanning Spreading Resistance Microscopy (SSRM) for the characterization of doping profiles.

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Irradiation behavior of pyrolytic silicon carbide

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100074288 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

pp. 72-73

Author(s):

R. J. Lauf

Keyword(s):

Silicon Carbide ◽

Fission Products ◽

Thermodynamics And Kinetics ◽

Neutron Fluences ◽

Fuel Particles ◽

Sic Coatings ◽

Irradiation Behavior ◽

Kinetics Of ◽

Htgr Fuel

Fuel particles for the High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) contain a layer of pyrolytic silicon carbide to act as a miniature pressure vessel and primary fission product barrier. Optimization of the SiC with respect to fuel performance involves four areas of study: (a) characterization of as-deposited SiC coatings; (b) thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical reactions between SiC and fission products; (c) irradiation behavior of SiC in the absence of fission products; and (d) combined effects of irradiation and fission products. This paper reports the behavior of SiC deposited on inert microspheres and irradiated to fast neutron fluences typical of HTGR fuel at end-of-life.

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Microstructural Evaluation of Silicon Carbide Whisker Reinforced Alumina Fabricated with Carbon-Coated Whiskers

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100088919 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 920-921

Author(s):

K. B. Alexander ◽

P. F. Becher

Keyword(s):

Silicon Carbide ◽

High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽

Ceramic Composites ◽

Interface Debonding ◽

Resolution Electron ◽

Microstructural Evaluation ◽

Carbon Coated ◽

Electron Energy Loss ◽

Interfacial Films ◽

Debonding Process

The presence of interfacial films at the whisker-matrix interface can significantly influence the fracture toughness of ceramic composites. The film may alter the interface debonding process though changes in either the interfacial fracture energy or the residual stress at the interface. In addition, the films may affect the whisker pullout process through the frictional sliding coefficients or the extent of mechanical interlocking of the interface due to the whisker surface topography.Composites containing ACMC silicon carbide whiskers (SiCw) which had been coated with 5-10 nm of carbon and Tokai whiskers coated with 2 nm of carbon have been examined. High resolution electron microscopy (HREM) images of the interface were obtained with a JEOL 4000EX electron microscope. The whisker geometry used for HREM imaging is described in Reference 2. High spatial resolution (< 2-nm-diameter probe) parallel-collection electron energy loss spectroscopy (PEELS) measurements were obtained with a Philips EM400T/FEG microscope equipped with a Gatan Model 666 spectrometer.

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TEM of grain growth and phase transformations during creep of SCS-6 silicon carbide fibers

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100138129 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 53 ◽

pp. 350-351

Author(s):

L. A. Giannuzzi ◽

C. A. Lewinsohn ◽

C. E. Bakis ◽

R. E. Tressler

Keyword(s):

Silicon Carbide ◽

Creep Rate ◽

Vapor Deposition ◽

Chemical Vapor ◽

Primary Creep ◽

Excess Carbon ◽

Silicon Carbide Fibers ◽

Sic Fiber ◽

Carbon Core ◽

Grain Width

The SCS-6 SiC fiber is a 142 μm diameter fiber consisting of four distinct regions of βSiC. These SiC regions vary in excess carbon content ranging from 10 a/o down to 5 a/o in the SiC1 through SiC3 region. The SiC4 region is stoichiometric. The SiC sub-grains in all regions grow radially outward from the carbon core of the fiber during the chemical vapor deposition processing of these fibers. In general, the sub-grain width changes from 50nm to 250nm while maintaining an aspect ratio of ~10:1 from the SiC1 through the SiC4 regions. In addition, the SiC shows a <110> texture, i.e., the {111} planes lie ±15° along the fiber axes. Previous has shown that the SCS-6 fiber (as well as the SCS-9 and the developmental SCS-50 μm fiber) undergoes primary creep (i.e., the creep rate constantly decreases as a function of time) throughout the lifetime of the creep test.

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