Development of a microwave photoconductance measurement technique for the study of carrier dynamics in highly-excited 4H-SiC

The microwave conductance decay (MCD) technique combining an initially matched transmission line setup and picosecond optical excitation was developed and applied for the monitoring of transmitted and reflected microwave power transients in a 4H-SiC epilayer in a wide excitation range, from 2  ×  1014 to 1018 cm−3. The excitation-dependent decrease in measurement sensitivity in the power-law relations of the transients was observed at excess carrier densities above 1016 cm−3 due to the line mismatches and decrease in the internal microwave field in the illuminated sample. The calibration procedure of MCD data on excess carrier density was applied for the correction of the MCD transients and resulted in nearly identical MCD kinetics in the reflection and transmission. In a 35 μm-thick n-type 4H-SiC epilayer, the tendencies of the gradual decrease of the initial decay time with an excitation increase and the excitation-enhanced carrier recombination rate in MCD tails were analyzed numerically. These tendencies were attributed to the excitation dependent surface recombination rate and the enhanced trap-related bulk recombination, correspondingly.

Source:IOPscience
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Femtosecond-pulsed laser micromachining of a 4H–SiC wafer for MEMS pressure sensor diaphragms and via holes

The challenging issues in conventional microfabrication of SiC pressure sensor diaphragms from bulk wafers are low etch rates, thicker (>40 µm) diaphragms, low spatial resolutions, rough surfaces and substantial contamination. In via hole drilling of SiC, the critical concern is the low drilling speed (nm per minute). In this work, femtosecond (fs)-pulsed laser ablation was conducted to overcome some of these deficiencies. Circular diaphragms (0.5 to 1 mm) by trepanning mode and via holes (30–50 µm) by percussion drilling mode were micromachined in 250 µm thick 4H–SiC single crystals using an 800 nm wavelength, 120 fs, 1 mJ Ti:sapphire laser. Pulse energy, number of pulses and scan rate were varied to obtain a high etch rate and high quality features. Results showed that the etch rates are 2–10 µm per pulse, diaphragm thicknesses are 20–200 µm, surface roughness is 1–2 µm Ra and via hole drilling speeds are up to 25 µm per second. The etch depth control was well within ± 1%. High aspect ratio features with excellent spatial resolutions were obtained due to the absence of thermal damages such as a recast layer and contamination. Thus, femtosecond-pulsed laser ablation by virtue of its unique characteristics such as multiphoton ionization and the absence of lattice heating offers high speed, precision and accuracy in micromachining 4H–SiC wafers.

Source:IOPscience
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Decay curve analyses in carrier lifetime measurements of p- and n-type 4H-SiC epilayers

The impacts of the ambipolar diffusion constant and surface recombination in carrier lifetime measurements of p- and n-type 4H-SiC epilayers are investigated in detail by comparing a numerical simulation based on a diffusion equation and the measurement of microwave photoconductance decay (µ-PCD) curves measured from 4H-SiC epilayers. The simulation reveals that the shapes of decay curves of excess carrier concentration in epilayers, which defines the effective carrier lifetime, are different between p- and n-type 4H-SiC under a low-level injection condition, even when the bulk lifetime and the surface recombination velocity are fixed to the same values for p- and n-type epilayers. In experiments, the shapes of the microwave photoconductance decay curves measured from p- and n-type 4H-SiC epilayers show a similar tendency to the simulation results under a low-level injection condition. This is attributed to the difference in the dependence of the ambipolar diffusion constant on the excess carrier concentration for p- and n-type 4H-SiC. The comparison of µ-PCD decay curves obtained from 50-µm-thick epilayers with different surface passivation indicates that the surface recombination velocity on the epilayer passivated with deposited SiO2 followed by NO annealing is about one order of magnitude lower than that of the epilayer passivated with the dry oxide.

Source:IOPscience
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Development of a 150 mm 4H-SiC epitaxial reactor with high-speed wafer rotation

A new type of 150 mm vertical 4H-SiC epitaxial reactor with high-speed wafer rotation has been developed. Multiple resistance heaters ensure uniform radial temperature distribution throughout a 150-mm-diameter wafer. Enhancement of the growth rates is realized by high-speed wafer rotation under a relatively high system pressure, and growth rates of 40–50 µm/h are achieved on 4° off 4H-SiC substrates, maintaining a low defect density and a smooth surface without macrostep bunching. Excellent thickness and doping uniformities are simultaneously obtained for a 150-mm-diameter wafer at a high growth rate of 50 µm/h.

Source:IOPscience
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