SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS

Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD

Guoguo Yan1, 2, Feng Zhang1, 2, , Yingxi Niu3, Fei Yang3, Lei Wang1, 2, Wanshun Zhao1, 2, Guosheng Sun1, 2, 4 and Yiping Zeng1, 2

+ Author Affiliations

 Corresponding author: Feng Zhang, Email: fzhang@semi.ac.cn

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Abstract: Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC epilayers was performed on 4° off-axis 4H-SiC substrates in a home-made vertical hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system using H2-SiH4-C2H4-HCl. The effect of the SiH4/H2 ratio and reactor pressure on the growth rate of 4H-SiC epilayers has been studied successively. The growth rate increase in proportion to the SiH4/H2 ratio and the influence mechanism of chlorine has been investigated. With the reactor pressure increasing from 40 to 100 Torr, the growth rate increased to 52 μm/h and then decreased to 47 μm/h, which is due to the joint effect of H2 and HCl etching as well as the formation of Si clusters at higher reactor pressure. The surface root mean square (RMS) roughness keeps around 1 nm with the growth rate increasing to 49 μm/h. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrate that 96.7 μm thick 4H-SiC layers of good uniformity in thickness and doping with high crystal quality can be achieved. These results prove that chloride-based fast epitaxy is an advanced growth technique for 4H-SiC homoepitaxy.

Key words: 4H-SiC epilayerchemical vapor depositionhomoepitaxial growthgrowth rate



[1]
Zhao J H, Alexandrov P, Zhang J H, et al. Fabrication and characterization of 11-kV normally off 4H-SiC trenched-and-implanted vertical junction FET. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2004, 25(7):474
[2]
Song Q W, Zhang Y M, Han J S, et al. The fabrication and characterization of 4H-SiC power UMOSFETs. Chin Phys B, 2013, 22(2):027302
[3]
Jantawongrit P, Sanorpim S, Yaguchi H, et al. Microstructures of InN film on 4H-SiC (0001) substrate grown by RF-MBE. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(8):083002
[4]
Rao M H L, Murty N V L N. An improved analytical model of 4H-SiC MESFET incorporating bulk and interface trapping effects. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(1):014004
[5]
Robert J L, Contreras S, Camassel J, et al. 4H-SiC material for Hall effect and high-temperature sensors working in harsh environments. Mater Sci Forum, 2002, 389-393:1435
[6]
Pedersen H, Leone S, Henry A, et al. Very high growth rate of 4H-SiC epilayers using the chlorinated precursor methyltrichlorosilane (MTS). J Cryst Growth, 2007, 307(2):334
[7]
Ishida Y, Takahashi T, Okumura H, et al. Origin of giant step bunching on 4H-SiC (0001) surfaces. Materials Science Forum, 2009:473
[8]
Tsuchida H, Ito M, Kamata I, et al. Low-pressure fast growth and characterization of 4H-SiC epilayers. Materials Science Forum, 2010:77
[9]
Thomas B, Hecht C, Stein R, et al. Challenges in large-area multi-wafer SiC epitaxy for production needs. Materials Science Forum, 2006:135
[10]
Burk A A, O'Loughlin M J, Sumakeris J J, et al. SiC epitaxial growth on multiple 100-mm wafers and its application to power-switching devices. Materials Science Forum, 2009:77
[11]
Li Yanyue, Deng Xiaochuan, Liu Yunfeng, et al. Effect of post oxidation annealing in nitric oxide on interface properties of 4H-SiC/SiO2 after high temperature oxidation. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(9):094003
[12]
Myers R L, Shishkin Y, Kordina O, et al. High growth rates (>30 mμm/h) of 4H-SiC epitaxial layers using a horizontal hot-wall CVD reactor. J Cryst Growth, 2005, 285(4):486
[13]
Vivona M, Greco G, Franco S D, et al. Comparative study of the current transport mechanisms in Ni2Si Ohmic contacts on n- and p-type implanted 4H-SiC. Materials Science Forum, 2014:665
[14]
Yan Guoguo, Sun Guosheng, Wu Hailei, et al. Multi-wafer 3C-SiC thin films grown on Si (100) in a vertical HWLPCVD reactor. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(6):063001
[15]
Guo Hui, Zhao Yaqiu, Zhang Yuming, et al. Influence of n-type doping on the oxidation rate in n-type 6H-SiC. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(1):013006
[16]
Henry A, Leone S, Beyer F C, et al. SiC epitaxy growth using chloride-based CVD. Physica B, 2012, 407(10):1467
[17]
Tanaka T, Kawabata N, Mitani Y, et al. Influence of growth pressure and addition of HCl gas on growth rate of 4H-SiC epitaxy. Materials Science Forum, 2015, 821-823:133
[18]
Sun G S, Liu X F, Wu H L, et al. Determination of the transport properties in 4H-SiC wafers by Raman scattering measurement, Chinese Phys B, 2011, 20(3):033301
[19]
Yan Guoguo, Sun Guosheng, Wu Hailei, et al. Multi-wafer 3C-SiC thin films grown on Si (100) in a vertical HWLPCVD reactor. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(6):063001
[20]
Liu B, Sun G S, Liu X F, et al. Fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films on 4° off-axis substrates in a SiH4-C2H4-H2 system. Chin Phys Lett, 2013, 30(12):128101
[21]
Fujihira K, Kimoto T, Matsunami H. Growth and characterization of 4H-SiC in vertical hot-wall chemical vapor deposition. J Cryst Growth, 2003, 255(1/2):136
[22]
La Via F, Izzo G, Mauceri M, et al. 4H-SiC epitaxial layer growth by trichlorosilane (TCS). J Cryst Growth, 2008, 311(1):107
[23]
La Via F, Galvagno G, Foti G, et al. 4H SiC epitaxial growth with chlorine addition. Chem Vapor Depos, 2006, 12(8/9):509
[24]
Karhu I B R, Ul Hassan J, Ivanov I, et al. The role of chlorine during high growth rate epitaxy, Mater Sci Forum, 2015, 821-823:141
[25]
Rupp R, Makarov Y N, Behner H, et al. Silicon carbide epitaxy in a vertical CVD reactor:experimental results and numerical process simulation. Phys Status Solidi B, 1997, 202(1):281
[26]
Kordina O, Hallin C, Ellison A, et al. High temperature chemical vapor deposition of SiC. Appl Phys Lett, 1996, 69(10):1456
[27]
Li J P, Steckl A J. Nucleation and void formation mechanisms in SiC thin-film growth on Si by carbonization. J Electrochem Soc, 1995, 142(2):634
[28]
Kunstmann T, Angerer H, Knecht J, et al. Novel brominated carbosilane precursors for low-temperature heteroepitaxy of beta-SiC and their comparison with methyltrichlorosilane. Chem Mater, 1995, 7(9):1675
[29]
Kunstmann T, Veprek S, Schmidbaur H, et al. Chemical vapor deposition of 3C-SiC on Si (100) from methyltrichlorosilane and methyltribromosilane. Inst Phys Conf Ser, 1996, 142:213
[30]
La Via F, Leone S, Mauceri M, et al. Very high growth rate epitaxy processes with chlorine addition. Materials Science Forum, 2007, 556/557:157
[31]
Nakashima S, Harima H. Raman investigation of SiC polytypes. Phys Status Solidi A, 1997, 162(1):39
[32]
Wu Hailei, Sun Guosheng, Yang Ting, et al. High-quality homoepitaxial layers grown on 4H-SiC at high growth rate by vertical LPCVD. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(4):043005
Fig. 1.  (a) Schematic diagram of the home-made vertical hot-wall CVD reactor. (b) Time-temperature profile utilized for chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films.

Fig. 2.  Growth rate versus SiH4/H2 ratio. The SiH4 flow rate ranges from 30 to 80 sccm and the H2 flow rate was fixed at 30 slm.

Fig. 3.  The dependence of the 4H-SiC epitaxial layers grow rate on the reactor pressure with SiH4 flow rate fixed at 80 sccm. The temperature is held at 1650 ℃. The Cl/Si and C/Si ratios are both kept at 1. The pressure ranges from 30 to 100 Torr.

Fig. 4.  (Color online) AFM images of 5 × 5 μm2 of 4H-SiC epilayers with different growth rates: (a) 18.5 μm/h, (b) 26.5 μm/h, (c) 35.4 μm/h, and (d) 49 μm/h. The growth time was 60 min for these epilayers.

Fig. 5.  (Color online) Raman shift profile of the 4H-SiC epilayer with different thicknesses. The growth rate for these three samples is approximately 40 μm/h. The thicknesses from bottom to up are 24.5, 41.2, and 96.7 μm, respectively.

Fig. 6.  (Color online) XRD results of 4H-SiC epilayers with different thicknesses. The thicknesses from bottom to up are 24.5, 41.3, and 96.7 μm, respectively.

Fig. 7.  Cross-section SEM micrograph of 4H-SiC epilayer with thickness of 96.7 μm. The growth rate was 46 μm/h.

Fig. 8.  (a) Typical thickness and (b) doping distribution of the 96.7 μm thick 10 × 10 mm2 SiC epitaxial layer (0.6 mm edge exclusion). Thickness and doping uniformity σ/mean valuesare 0.6% and 4.7% respectively.

[1]
Zhao J H, Alexandrov P, Zhang J H, et al. Fabrication and characterization of 11-kV normally off 4H-SiC trenched-and-implanted vertical junction FET. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2004, 25(7):474
[2]
Song Q W, Zhang Y M, Han J S, et al. The fabrication and characterization of 4H-SiC power UMOSFETs. Chin Phys B, 2013, 22(2):027302
[3]
Jantawongrit P, Sanorpim S, Yaguchi H, et al. Microstructures of InN film on 4H-SiC (0001) substrate grown by RF-MBE. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(8):083002
[4]
Rao M H L, Murty N V L N. An improved analytical model of 4H-SiC MESFET incorporating bulk and interface trapping effects. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(1):014004
[5]
Robert J L, Contreras S, Camassel J, et al. 4H-SiC material for Hall effect and high-temperature sensors working in harsh environments. Mater Sci Forum, 2002, 389-393:1435
[6]
Pedersen H, Leone S, Henry A, et al. Very high growth rate of 4H-SiC epilayers using the chlorinated precursor methyltrichlorosilane (MTS). J Cryst Growth, 2007, 307(2):334
[7]
Ishida Y, Takahashi T, Okumura H, et al. Origin of giant step bunching on 4H-SiC (0001) surfaces. Materials Science Forum, 2009:473
[8]
Tsuchida H, Ito M, Kamata I, et al. Low-pressure fast growth and characterization of 4H-SiC epilayers. Materials Science Forum, 2010:77
[9]
Thomas B, Hecht C, Stein R, et al. Challenges in large-area multi-wafer SiC epitaxy for production needs. Materials Science Forum, 2006:135
[10]
Burk A A, O'Loughlin M J, Sumakeris J J, et al. SiC epitaxial growth on multiple 100-mm wafers and its application to power-switching devices. Materials Science Forum, 2009:77
[11]
Li Yanyue, Deng Xiaochuan, Liu Yunfeng, et al. Effect of post oxidation annealing in nitric oxide on interface properties of 4H-SiC/SiO2 after high temperature oxidation. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(9):094003
[12]
Myers R L, Shishkin Y, Kordina O, et al. High growth rates (>30 mμm/h) of 4H-SiC epitaxial layers using a horizontal hot-wall CVD reactor. J Cryst Growth, 2005, 285(4):486
[13]
Vivona M, Greco G, Franco S D, et al. Comparative study of the current transport mechanisms in Ni2Si Ohmic contacts on n- and p-type implanted 4H-SiC. Materials Science Forum, 2014:665
[14]
Yan Guoguo, Sun Guosheng, Wu Hailei, et al. Multi-wafer 3C-SiC thin films grown on Si (100) in a vertical HWLPCVD reactor. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(6):063001
[15]
Guo Hui, Zhao Yaqiu, Zhang Yuming, et al. Influence of n-type doping on the oxidation rate in n-type 6H-SiC. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(1):013006
[16]
Henry A, Leone S, Beyer F C, et al. SiC epitaxy growth using chloride-based CVD. Physica B, 2012, 407(10):1467
[17]
Tanaka T, Kawabata N, Mitani Y, et al. Influence of growth pressure and addition of HCl gas on growth rate of 4H-SiC epitaxy. Materials Science Forum, 2015, 821-823:133
[18]
Sun G S, Liu X F, Wu H L, et al. Determination of the transport properties in 4H-SiC wafers by Raman scattering measurement, Chinese Phys B, 2011, 20(3):033301
[19]
Yan Guoguo, Sun Guosheng, Wu Hailei, et al. Multi-wafer 3C-SiC thin films grown on Si (100) in a vertical HWLPCVD reactor. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(6):063001
[20]
Liu B, Sun G S, Liu X F, et al. Fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films on 4° off-axis substrates in a SiH4-C2H4-H2 system. Chin Phys Lett, 2013, 30(12):128101
[21]
Fujihira K, Kimoto T, Matsunami H. Growth and characterization of 4H-SiC in vertical hot-wall chemical vapor deposition. J Cryst Growth, 2003, 255(1/2):136
[22]
La Via F, Izzo G, Mauceri M, et al. 4H-SiC epitaxial layer growth by trichlorosilane (TCS). J Cryst Growth, 2008, 311(1):107
[23]
La Via F, Galvagno G, Foti G, et al. 4H SiC epitaxial growth with chlorine addition. Chem Vapor Depos, 2006, 12(8/9):509
[24]
Karhu I B R, Ul Hassan J, Ivanov I, et al. The role of chlorine during high growth rate epitaxy, Mater Sci Forum, 2015, 821-823:141
[25]
Rupp R, Makarov Y N, Behner H, et al. Silicon carbide epitaxy in a vertical CVD reactor:experimental results and numerical process simulation. Phys Status Solidi B, 1997, 202(1):281
[26]
Kordina O, Hallin C, Ellison A, et al. High temperature chemical vapor deposition of SiC. Appl Phys Lett, 1996, 69(10):1456
[27]
Li J P, Steckl A J. Nucleation and void formation mechanisms in SiC thin-film growth on Si by carbonization. J Electrochem Soc, 1995, 142(2):634
[28]
Kunstmann T, Angerer H, Knecht J, et al. Novel brominated carbosilane precursors for low-temperature heteroepitaxy of beta-SiC and their comparison with methyltrichlorosilane. Chem Mater, 1995, 7(9):1675
[29]
Kunstmann T, Veprek S, Schmidbaur H, et al. Chemical vapor deposition of 3C-SiC on Si (100) from methyltrichlorosilane and methyltribromosilane. Inst Phys Conf Ser, 1996, 142:213
[30]
La Via F, Leone S, Mauceri M, et al. Very high growth rate epitaxy processes with chlorine addition. Materials Science Forum, 2007, 556/557:157
[31]
Nakashima S, Harima H. Raman investigation of SiC polytypes. Phys Status Solidi A, 1997, 162(1):39
[32]
Wu Hailei, Sun Guosheng, Yang Ting, et al. High-quality homoepitaxial layers grown on 4H-SiC at high growth rate by vertical LPCVD. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(4):043005
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    Received: 04 November 2015 Revised: 09 December 2015 Online: Published: 01 June 2016

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      Guoguo Yan, Feng Zhang, Yingxi Niu, Fei Yang, Lei Wang, Wanshun Zhao, Guosheng Sun, Yiping Zeng. Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2016, 37(6): 063001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/37/6/063001 G G Yan, F Zhang, Y X Niu, F Yang, L Wang, W S Zhao, G S Sun, Y P Zeng. Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD[J]. J. Semicond., 2016, 37(6): 063001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/37/6/063001.Export: BibTex EndNote
      Citation:
      Guoguo Yan, Feng Zhang, Yingxi Niu, Fei Yang, Lei Wang, Wanshun Zhao, Guosheng Sun, Yiping Zeng. Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2016, 37(6): 063001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/37/6/063001

      G G Yan, F Zhang, Y X Niu, F Yang, L Wang, W S Zhao, G S Sun, Y P Zeng. Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD[J]. J. Semicond., 2016, 37(6): 063001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/37/6/063001.
      Export: BibTex EndNote

      Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD

      doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/37/6/063001
      Funds:

      the Program of State Grid Smart Grid Research Institute No. SGRI-WD-71-14-004

      the Beijing Natural Science Foundation of China Nos. 4132076, 4132074

      the National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos. 61474113, 61274007, 61574140

      the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS 

      Project supported by the National High Technology R& D Program of China (No. 2014AA041402), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61474113, 61274007, 61574140), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 4132076, 4132074), the Program of State Grid Smart Grid Research Institute (No. SGRI-WD-71-14-004), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS.

      the National High Technology R&D Program of China (No. 2014AA041402), the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 2014AA041402

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      • Corresponding author: Email: fzhang@semi.ac.cn
      • Received Date: 2015-11-04
      • Revised Date: 2015-12-09
      • Published Date: 2016-06-01

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