Örjan Danielsson

Growth rate predictions of chemical vapor deposited silicon carbide epitaxial layers

Abstract Complete 3D simulations of a silicon carbide chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor, including inductive heating and fluid dynamics as well as gas phase and surface chemistry, have been performed. For the validation of simulated results, growth was conducted in a horizontal hot-wall CVD reactor operating at 1600°C, using SiH4 and C3H8 as precursor gases. Simulations were performed for an experimental hot-wall CVD reactor, but the results are applicable to any reactor configuration since no adjustable parameters were used to fit experimental data. The simulated results obtained are in very good agreement with experimental values. It is shown that including etching and parasitic growth on all reactor walls exposed to the gas greatly improves the accuracy of the simulations.

Nitrogen doping of epitaxial silicon carbide

Abstract Intentional doping with nitrogen of 4H- and 6H-SiC has been performed using a hot-wall CVD reactor. The nitrogen doping dependence on the temperature, pressure, C/Si ratio, growth rate and nitrogen flow has been investigated. The nitrogen incorporation for C-face material showed to be C/Si ratio independent, whereas the doping decreased with increasing C/Si ratio for the Si-face material in accordance with the “site-competition” model. The nitrogen incorporation was constant in a temperature “window” of 75°C on Si-face material indicating a mass transport limited incorporation. Increasing the growth rate resulted in a decrease of nitrogen incorporation on Si-face but an increase on C-face material. Finally, a comparison between previously published results on cold-wall CVD-grown material and the present hot-wall-grown material is presented.

Aluminum doping of epitaxial silicon carbide

Intentional doping of aluminum in 4H and 6H SiC has been performed using a hot-wall CVD reactor. The dependence of aluminum incorporation on temperature, pressure, C/Si ratio, growth rate, and TMA ...

Predicted nitrogen doping concentrations in silicon carbide epitaxial layers grown by hot-wall chemical vapor deposition

A simple quantitative model for the surface adsorption of nitrogen has been developed to simulate the doping incorporation in intentionally doped 4H-SiC samples during epitaxial growth. Different r ...

Investigation of the temperature profile in a hot-wall SiC chemical vapor deposition reactor

The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique is widely used to grow epitaxial layers of silicon carbide. To meet the demands for high quality epitaxial layers, which have good morphology and a minimum variation of the doping and thickness, a good knowledge of the CVD process is essential. The present work uses a simulation tool to investigate several parameters influencing the heating of a hot-wall CVD reactor. The simulations are set up as 2D axisymmetric problems and validation is made in a 2D horizontal hot-wall CVD reactor. By applying the knowledge achieved from the simulations, the temperature profile is optimized to give as large area as possible with homogeneous temperature. New susceptor and coil designs are tested. A very good agreement between the simulated and the measured results is obtained. The new design has a temperature variation of less than 0.5% over more than 70% of the total susceptor length at an operating temperature of 1650°C. In addition, the power input needed to reach the operating temperature is decreased by 15% compared to the original design. 3D simulations are performed to show that the changes made in the 2D case give similar results for the real 3D case.

Precursors for carbon doping of GaN in chemical vapor deposition

Methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4), acetylene (C2H2), propane (C3H8), iso-butane (i-C4H10), and trimethylamine [N(CH3)3] have been investigated as precursors for intentional carbon doping of (0001) GaN in chemical vapor deposition. The carbon precursors were studied by comparing the efficiency of carbon incorporation in GaN together with their influence on morphology and structural quality of carbon doped GaN. The unsaturated hydrocarbons C2H4 and C2H2 were found to be more suitable for carbon doping than the saturated ones, with higher carbon incorporation efficiency and a reduced effect on the quality of the GaN epitaxial layers. The results indicate that the C2H2 molecule as a direct precursor, or formed by the gas phase chemistry, is a key species for carbon doping without degrading the GaN quality; however, the CH3 species should be avoided in the carbon doping chemistry.

Epitaxial growth of 4H SiC in a vertical hot-wall CVD reactor: Comparison between up- and down-flow orientations

The CVD growth of 4H SiC is investigated in a vertical hot-wall reactor in both up-flow (the chimney reactor) and down-flow (the inverted chimney) orientations. The growth rate and the nitrogen dop ...

Reducing stress in silicon carbide epitaxial layers

A susceptor for the epitaxial growth of silicon carbide, with an up-lifted substrate holder, is investigated and compared to other susceptor designs both experimentally and by the use of computatio ...

Using N2 as precursor gas in III-nitride CVD growth

Computational fluid dynamics simulations have been performed to explore the possibility of using nitrogen gas as a precursor to III-nitride growth. A chemical model for the gas-phase decomposition ...

Carbon doped GaN buffer layer using propane for high electron mobility transistor applications: Growth and device results

The creation of a semi insulating (SI) buffer layer in AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) devices is crucial for preventing a current path beneath the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). In this investigation, we evaluate the use of a gaseous carbon gas precursor, propane, for creating a SI GaN buffer layer in a HEMT structure. The carbon doped profile, using propane gas, is a two stepped profile with a high carbon doping (1.5 x 10(18) cm(-3)) epitaxial layer closest to the substrate and a lower doped layer (3 x 10(16) cm(-3)) closest to the 2DEG channel. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry measurement shows a uniform incorporation versus depth, and no memory effect from carbon doping can be seen. The high carbon doping (1.5 x 10(18) cm(-3)) does not influence the surface morphology, and a roughness root-mean-square value of 0.43 nm is obtained from Atomic Force Microscopy. High resolution X-ray diffraction measurements show very sharp peaks and no structural degradation can be seen related to the heavy carbon doped layer. HEMTs are fabricated and show an extremely low drain induced barrier lowering value of 0.1 mV/V, demonstrating an excellent buffer isolation. The carbon doped GaN buffer layer using propane gas is compared to samples using carbon from the trimethylgallium molecule, showing equally low leakage currents, demonstrating the capability of growing highly resistive buffer layers using a gaseous carbon source.