SiC-Seeded Crystal Growth

To take advantage of the superior properties of SiC-based devices, the industry must be able to produce high-quality SiC homoepitaxial films on single-crystal SiC wafers. Silicon- and GaAs-based semiconductor devices have taken advantage of the industry's ability to produce largediameter, high-quality substrates to develop large-volume, low-cost devices. For the same reasons, the development of low-cost, high-quality single-crystal SiC substrates has been pursued since the first Lely (nonseeded growth process) platelets were used to make devices. Currently several groups (ATMI, USA; Northrop Grumman Research Center, USA; Okmetic Ltd., Finland; Nippon Steel Corporation, Japan; and our company, Cree Research, Inc., USA) are working toward SiC substrate fabrication. University researchers also play an important role in the search for solutions to fundamental outstanding issues. These efforts are important because the future success of the SiC industry is closely related to the successful development of the SiC bulk growth process.