Production of large-area single-crystal wafers of cubic SiC for semiconductor devices

TLDR

The study presents a reproducible chemical vapor deposition process to grow thick single‑crystal cubic SiC layers on Si wafers. The method employs in‑situ buffer layers to mitigate lattice mismatch during CVD growth and then chemically removes the Si substrate to yield SiC wafers. The resulting wafers reach 34 µm thickness over several cm², show excellent crystal quality by electron channeling, and exhibit electron mobilities up to 380 cm²/Vs.

Abstract

A reproducible process is described for growing a thick single-crystal layer of cubic SiC on a single-crystal Si wafer by chemical vapor deposition. A buffer layer, grown in situ, is used between the cubic SiC and the Si substrate to minimize the effect of lattice mismatch. Layers of up to 34 μm thick and several cm2 in area have been grown. Wafers are obtained by chemically removing the Si substrates from the grown layers. Excellent electron channeling patterns produced by these wafers indicate very good crystal quality. Preliminary electrical measurements have yielded electron mobilities up to 380 cm2/Vs.