Byoung Chul Shin

Effect of Process Parameters on Material Removal Rate in Chemical Mechanical Polishing of 6H-SiC(0001)

2inch 6H-SiC (0001) wafers were sliced from the ingot grown by a conventional physical vapor transport (PVT) method using an abrasive multi-wire saw. While sliced SiC wafers lapped by a slurry with 1~9㎛ diamond particles had a mean height (Ra) value of 40nm, wafers after the final mechanical polishing using the slurry of 0.1㎛ diamond particles exhibited Ra of 4Å. In this study, we focused on investigation into the effect of the slurry type of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) on the material removal rate of SiC materials and the change in surface roughness by adding abrasives and oxidizer to conventional KOH-based colloidal silica slurry. The nano-sized diamond slurry (average grain size of 25nm) added in KOH-based colloidal silica slurry resulted in a material removal rate (MRR) of 0.07mg/hr and the Ra of 1.811Å. The addition of oxidizer (NaOCl) in the nano-size diamond and KOH based colloidal silica slurry was proven to improve the CMP characteristics for SiC wafer, having a MRR of 0.3mg/hr and Ra of 1.087Å.

SiC Crystal Growth by Sublimation Method with Modification of Crucible and Insulation Felt Design

SiC crystal boules with different shapes were prepared using sublimation physical vapor transport technique (PVT) and then their crystal quality was systematically investigated. The temperature distribution in the growth system and the crystal shape were controlled by modification of crucible and insulation felt design, which was successfully simulated using “Virtual Reactor” for flat structure design and concave structure design. The SiC polytype proved to be the n-type 6H-SiC from the typical absorption spectrum of SiC crystal. The defect density of SiC crystal boules with concave structure was slightly lower than that of flat structure and the crystal quality of SiC crystal boules with both flat structure and concave structure was significantly improved as the SiC crystal grows during the PVT methods.

High Quality SiC Crystals Grown by the Physical Vapor Transport Method with a New Crucible Design

SiC single crystal ingots grown by sublimation physical vapor transport (PVT) technique were prepared and then the SiC crystal quality with varying crucible design employing a guide tube and tantalum foil was systematically investigated. The growth rate of 2-inch SiC crystal grown by these crucible designs was about 0.3 mm/hr. The n-type and p-type 2”-SiC single crystals exhibiting the polytype of 6H-SiC were successfully fabricated. The doping concentration level of below ~1017/cm3 was extracted from the absorption spectrum and Hall measurement. The densities of micropipes and inclusions in SiC crystal boules grown using the graphite/Ta foil double layer guide tube were significantly decreased. Finally we improved crystal quality through the introduction of new crucible design.

Initial Stage Modification for 6H-SiC Single Crystal Grown by the Physical Vapor Transport (PVT) Method

Two SiC single crystal ingots were prepared using sublimation PVT techniques through the different process procedure and then their crystal quality was systematically compared, because the present research was focused to improve the quality of SiC crystal by modifying the initial stage of the PVT growth. Before the main growth step for growing SiC bulk crystal, initial stage period where growth rate was kept to relatively low rate of <10μm/h was introduced to conventional process procedure. N-type 2”-SiC single crystals exhibiting the polytype of 6H-SiC was successfully fabricated. As compared to the characteristics of SiC crystal grown using the conventional schedule, the quality of SiC crystal grown with modifying the initial stage was significantly improved, exhibiting decrease of defect formation such as micropipe and polytype formation.

Hydrogen Effect on SiC Single Crystal Prepared by the Physical Vapor Transport Method

We investigated the effects of hydrogen addition to the growth process of SiC single crystal using sublimation physical vapor transport (PVT) techniques. Hydrogen was periodically added to an inert gas for the growth ambient during the SiC bulk growth. Grown 2”-SiC single crystals were proven to be the polytype of 6H-SiC and carrier concentration levels of about 1017/cm3 was determined from Hall measurements. As compared to the characteristics of SiC crystal grown without using hydrogen addition, the SiC crystal grown with periodically modulated hydrogen addition definitely exhibited lower carrier concentration and lower micropipe density as well as reduced growth rate.

An Inserted Epitaxial Layer for SiC Single Crystal Growth by the Physical Vapor Transport Method

SiC single crystal ingots were prepared onto different seed material using sublimation PVT techniques and then their crystal quality was systematically compared. In this study, the conventional SiC seed material and the new SiC seed material with an inserted SiC epitaxial layer on a seed surface were used as a seed for SiC bulk growth. The inserted epitaxial layer was grown by a sublimation epitaxy method called the CST with a low growth rate of 2μm/h. N-type 2”-SiC single crystals exhibiting the polytype of 6H-SiC were successfully fabricated and carrier concentration levels of below 1017/cm3 were determined from the absorption spectrum and Hall measurements. The slightly higher growth rate and carrier concentration were obtained in SiC single crystal ingot grown on new SiC seed materials with the inserted epitaxial layer on the seed surface, maintaining the high quality.

Epitaxial Growth of 4H-SiC (0001) by Sublimation Method Using Horizontal Furnace

A sublimation epitaxial method, referred to as the Closed Space Technique (CST) was adopted to produce thick SiC epitaxial layers for power device applications. We aimed to systematically investigate the dependence of SiC epilayer quality and growth rate during the sublimation growth using the CST method on various process parameters such as the growth temperature and working pressure. The etched surface of a SiC epitaxial layer grown with low growth rate (30 μm/h) exhibited a low etch pit density (EPD) of ~2000 /cm2 and a low micropipe density (MPD) of 2 /cm2. The etched surface of a SiC epitaxial layer grown with a high growth rate (above 100 μm/h) contained a high EPD of ~3500 /cm2 and a high MPD of ~500 /cm2, which indicates that high growth rate aids the formation of dislocations and micropipes in the epitaxial layer.

Epitaxial Growth of 4H-SiС Using Si2(CH3)6+Si2Cl6+C3H8+H2 System by Atmospheric Pressure Hot CVD Method

The chlorinated precursor is recently focused for high growth rate and high quality epitaxial layer. In the previous studies, the addition of chlorinated species from Si2Cl6 in the gas phase eliminated simultaneous Si nucleation which interferes with epitaxy. In this work, the characterization of epitaxial layers grown with chlorinated species is focused. High growth rate of 30 μm/h was achieved by using Si2(CH3)6 and Si2Cl6 as chlorinated precursors. We concluded that high growth rate was achieved by using HMDS and HCDS as the precursor of SiC at growth temperature of 1600 °C.

Epitaxial Growth of 3C-SiC on Si Substrates by Atmospheric Hot Wall CVD Using Hexamethyledisilane[(CH3)6Si2]

We adopted HMDS(Hexamethyledisilane) as a SiC(Silicon carbide) source material for epitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on Si substrate. Various growth profiles were investigated to optimize hetero-epitaxial growth of 3C-SiC layers. We also focused on the homogeneous film deposition of 3C-SiC on Si by employing two susceptor shapes, flat and tilted susceptors, to control a thickness of the boundary layer formed on the Si substrate. Fringe color patterns were observed on 3C-SiC layer on Si and hence it was easy to characterize the film uniformity by analyzing this color. 3C-SiC epitaxial layers were systematically analyzed by an optical microscope, a Raman spectroscopy, a SEM and an XRD.

Effect of the Seed Polarity for High Quality 4H-SiC Crystal Grown on 6H-SiC Seed by PVT Method

The single crystal ingots by using a sublimation technique were grown on 6H-SiC dual-seed crystals with opposite face polarities and then SiC crystal wafers sliced from the SiC ingot were systematically investigated to find out the polarity dependence of the crystal quality. The growth rate of the SiC crystal grown in this study was about 0.2mm/hr. N-type 2’’ SiC crystals exhibiting the 4H- and 6H-SiC polytype were successfully fabricated on C-face and Si-face, respectively. The incorporation of nitrogen donors in the SiC crystals grown on the C-face seed crystal was exhibited to be higher than in SiC crystals grown on a Si-face crystal. When the SiC crystal ingot proceeded to grow, the SiC crystal region grown on the C-face seed crystal was enlarged compared to the SiC crystal region on the Si-face seed crystal.