Study of electronic structures for Fe thin films deposited on Si- and C-faces of 4H-SiC substrates by soft X-ray emission spectroscopy

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a candidate material for electronic devices to operate upon crucial environment. Electronic states of silicides and/or carbide/graphite formed in metal/SiC contact system are fundamentally important from the viewpoint of device performance.We study interface electronic structure of iron thin film deposited on silicon (Si)- and carbon (C)-face of 4H-SiC(0 0 0 1) by using a soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES). For specimens of Fe (50 nm)/4H-SiC (substrate) contact systems annealed at 700 and 900 °C, the Si L_2,3 emission spectra indicate different shapes and peak energies from the substrate depending on thermal-treated temperature. The product of materials such as silicides is suggested. Further, from comparison of Si L_2,3 emission spectra between Si- and C-face for the same annealing temperature at 700 °C, it is concluded that the similar silicides and/or ternary materials are formed on the two surfaces. However for those of 900 °C, the film on substrate is composed of the different silicide and/or ternary materials.     

Study of electronic states for V thin films deposited on 6H-SiC substrates by soft X-ray emission spectroscopy

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a candidate material for electronic devices to operate upon crucial environment. Electronic states of silicides and/or carbide/graphite formed in metal/SiC contact system is fundamentally important from the view point of device performance.We study interface electronic structure of vanadium (V) thin-film deposited on 6H-SiC(0 0 0 1) Si-face by using a soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES). For specimens of V(38 nm)/6H-SiC (substrate) contact systems annealed at 850 °C, the Si L_2,3 emission spectra indicate different shapes and peak energies from the substrate. The product of materials such as silicides and/or ternary materials is suggested. Similarly, the C Kα emission spectra show the shape and peak energy characteristic of vanadium carbide including substrate 6H-SiC signal.     

Surface and interface issues in wide band gap semiconductor electronics

Wide band gap (WGB) materials are the most promising semiconductors for future electronic devices, and are candidates to replace the conventional materials (Si, GaAs, …) that are approaching their physical limits. Among WBG materials, silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have achieved the largest advancements with respect to their material quality and device processing. Clearly, the devices performances depend on several surface and interface properties, which in turn are often crucially determined by the quality of the available material, as well as by the device processing maturity. In this paper, some surface and interface issues related to SiC and GaN devices processing are reviewed. First, the control of metal/SiC barrier uniformity and surface preparation will be discussed with respect to the performance of Schottky-based devices. Moreover, the impact of high-temperature annealing required for high-voltage Schottky diodes and MOSFETs fabrication, on the surface morphology and device performances will also be briefly presented. In the second part, it will be shown that for GaN the material quality is still the main concern, since dislocations have a severe influence on the current transport and barrier homogeneity of metal/GaN interfaces. Other practical implications of thermal annealing and surface passivation during GaN-based devices fabrication will also be addressed.     

Investigation of porous silicon carbide as a new material for environmental and optoelectronic applications

In this paper, we present an experimental study on the chemical and electrochemical etching of silicon carbide (SiC) in different HF-based solutions and its application in different fields, such as optoelectronics (photodiode) and environment (gas sensors). The thin SiC films have been grown by pulsed laser deposition method. Different oxidant reagents have been explored. It has been shown that the morphology of the surface evolves with the etching conditions (oxidant, concentration, temperature, etc.). A new chemical polishing solution of polycrystalline 6H-SiC based on HF:Na₂O₂ solution has been developed. Moreover, an electrochemical etching method has been carried out to form a porous SiC layer on both polycrystalline and thin SiC films. The PL results show that the porous polycrystalline 6H-SiC and porous thin SiC films exhibited an intense blue luminescence and a green-blue luminescence centred at 2.82 eV (430 nm) and 2.20 eV (560 nm), respectively. Different device structures based on both prepared samples have been investigated as photodiode and gas sensors.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy investigations of silicon carbide nanowires

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images have been obtained from the surfaces of silicon carbide nanowires produced in the thermolysis-induced carbonization of halocarbons (combustion synthesis). The morphology of the nanowires shows trench-like features perpendicular to the fibres’ axis, which is assigned to the existence of microfacets on their sidewalls. For the first time high-resolution STM images of the SiC nanowires are presented. The results are in agreement with the previous reports suggesting the presence of microfacets on the SiC whiskers’ surface.     

表面氧钝化碳化硅纳米团簇电子结构和光学性质的第一性原理研究

基于密度泛函理论(DFT)和广义梯度近似(GGA),对氧钝化条件下4H-SiC纳米团簇的电子结构和光学性质进行了研究。计算了不同直径的4H-SiC纳米球氧钝化后的能带结构、电子态密度和光学性质。团簇的尺度在0.4~0.9 nm之间,构建表面仅存在硅氧双键和表面仅存在碳氧双键的两种模型。研究表明硅氧双键和碳氧双键所引起的缺陷态位于原4H-SiC的价带和导带之间,并且缺陷态与价带顶的能量差随纳米团簇颗粒直径的增大而减小;缺陷态主要是由Si原子外层电子和氧原子外层电子轨道杂化引起的。同时,由于氧的存在,对碳化硅的结构产生一定的影响,这也是缺陷态形成的一个原因。另外,碳氧双键和硅氧双键钝化对4H-SiC纳米团簇的光学性质有着不同的影响。在表面仅存在C=O的情况下,4H-SiC纳米团簇表现出各向同性的性质。在表面仅存在Si=O的情况下,4H-SiC纳米团簇表现出各向异性的性质。     

Interpretation of initial stage of 3C-SiC growth on Si(1 0 0) using dimethylsilane

The initial stage of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) growth on a Si(0 0 1) surface using dimethylsilane (DMS) as a source gas was observed using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). It was found that the dimer vacancies initially existing on the Si(0 0 1)-(2 × 1) surface were repaired by the Si atoms in DMS molecules, during the formation of the c(4 × 4) surface. From the STM measurement, nucleation of SiC was found to start when the Si surface was covered with the c(4 × 4) structure but before the appearance of SiC spots in the RHEED pattern. The growth mechanism of SiC islands was also discussed based on the results of RHEED, STM and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD).     

Impact of surface step heights of 6H-SiC (0 0 0 1) vicinal substrates in heteroepitaxial growth of 2H-AlN

Impact of step height of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates on heteroepitaxial growth of aluminum nitride (AlN) was investigated. Step-and-terrace structures with various step heights, 6 monolayer (ML), 3ML and 1ML, were formed on 6H-SiC (0 0 0 1) vicinal substrates by high-temperature gas etching. 2H-AlN layers were grown on the substrate by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and then these layers were characterized by atomic-force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). High-quality AlN can be grown on SiC substrates with 6ML- and 3ML-height step, while AlN grown on SiC substrates with 1ML-height step exhibited inferior crystalline quality. A model for high-quality AlN growth on SiC substrates with 3ML-height step is proposed.     

4H-SiC纳米薄膜的微结构及其光电性质研究

采用新设计的电极结构的等离子体增强化学气相沉积(PECVD)技术,在高功率密度、高氢稀释比、低温、偏压及低反应气压的条件下,在衬底表面形成双等离子流,增加了衬底表面SiC的成核概率,增强成核作用,形成纳米晶.采用高H2等离子体刻蚀弱的、扭曲的、非晶Si—C及Si—Si和Si—H等键时,由于H等离子体对纳米SiC晶粒与非晶态键的差异刻蚀作用,产生自组织生长,发生晶化.Raman光谱和透射电子衍射(TEM)的测试结果表明,纳米晶SiC是4HSiC多型结构.电子显微照片表明平均粒径为16nm,形状为微柱体.实验结果指出,SiC纳米晶的形成必须经过偏压预处理成核,并且其晶化存在一个功率密度阈值;当低于这一功率密度阈值时,晶化消失;当超过这一阈值时,纳米晶含量随功率密度的提高而增加.随着晶化作用的加强,电导率增加. 关键词： 4H-SiC PECVD 纳米结构 多型薄膜 纳米电子学     

Preparation of silicon carbide film by a plasma focus device

Silicon carbide (SiC) films were grown on the silicon (100) substrate by a 20 kJ Mather-type dense plasma focus device. The preparation method and characterization data are presented. X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nano-indentor were employed for the characterization of the samples obtained at different axial position of 50 mm, 90 mm, 130 mm and 170 mm, respectively. Polycrystalline 3CSiC were obtained at the position of 90 mm and 130 mm from XRD and FTIR spectra. SEM image showed that the silicon carbide films obtained at the position of 90 mm are porous on surface layer. Nano-indentor indicates that the film obtained at the position of 130 mm has the highest mechanical hardness.     

Assessing the effect of hydrogen on the electronic properties of 4H-SiC

As a common impurity in 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC), hydrogen (H) may play a role in tuning the electronic properties of 4H-SiC. In this work, we systemically explore the effect of H on the electronic properties of both n-type and p-type 4H-SiC. The passivation of H on intrinsic defects such as carbon vacancies (V_C) and silicon vacancies (V_Si) in 4H-SiC is also evaluated. We find that interstitial H at the bonding center of the Si-C bond (H_i^bc) and interstitial H at the tetrahedral center of Si (H_i^Si-te) dominate the defect configurations of H in p-type and n-type 4H-SiC, respectively. In n-type 4H-SiC, the compensation of H_i^Si-te is found to pin the Fermi energy and hinder the increase of the electron concentration for highly N-doped 4H-SiC. The compensation of H_i^bc is negligible compared to that of V_C on the p-type doping of Al-doped 4H-SiC. We further examine whether H can passivate V_C and improve the carrier lifetime in 4H-SiC. It turns out that nonequilibrium passivation of V_C by H is effective to eliminate the defect states of V_C, which enhances the carrier lifetime of moderately doped 4H-SiC. Regarding the quantum-qubit applications of 4H-SiC, we find that H can readily passivate V_Si during the creation of V_Si centers. Thermal annealing is needed to decompose the resulting V_Si-nH (n=1-4) complexes and promote the uniformity of the photoluminescence of V_Si arrays in 4H-SiC. The current work may inspire the impurity engineering of H in 4H-SiC.     

4H-SiC金属-半导体场效应晶体管大信号I-V特性和小信号参数的计算

基于碳化硅金属-半导体场效应晶体管内部载流子输运的物理特性分析,建立适于精确计算4H-SiCMESFET器件大信号电流-电压特性和小信号参数的解析模型.该模型采用场致迁移率、速度饱和近似,并考虑碳化硅中杂质不完全离化效应及漏源串联电阻的影响,栅偏置为0 V时,获得最大跨导约为48 mS·mm^-1.计算结果与实验数据有很好的一致性.该模型具有物理概念清晰且计算较为准确的优点,适于SiC器件以及电路研究使用.     

飞秒激光改性6H-碳化硅晶体表面光电导增益现象研究

半绝缘6H型碳化硅(6H-SiC)具有高电阻率性质,在可见光照射下进行光电导测量时,通常光生电流很小;然而经过飞秒激光辐照改性之后,发现在可见光波段的光电导有明显的增益.本文利用紫外-可见-近红外吸收谱、X射线光电子能谱和发光光谱测量分析了激光改性之后碳化硅样品的光谱吸收、发射和晶体元素比例变化情况.分析认为碳化硅光电导增益的原因是飞秒激光辐照过程改变了碳化硅表面的硅碳元素的原子浓度比,形成新的物质结构形式,从而导致了表面光电导性能的提高.     

Single crystal growth of SiC and electronic devices

Single crystal growth of silicon carbide (Sic) and application to electronic devices are reviewed. In the crystal growth, bulk and homoepitaxial growth are picked up, and crystal quality and electrical properties are described. For electronic devices, various device processes are argued. Power devices based on Sic are stressed in this review.

Bulk single crystals of SiC can be grown by a sublimation method, and large-area 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC single crystals are obtained. The occurrence of SiC polytypes is affected by the growth condition, and can be controlled successfully by optimizing these conditions. 6H-SiC is grown on 6H-SiC (0001) Si-faces, and 4H-SiC on 6H-SiC (0001) C-faces. The crystallinity of bulk crystals is investigated by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and X-ray analysis, and characterization is carried out in detail by optical and electrical measurement.

Successful homoepitaxial vapor phase growth of SiC can be realized using off-axis (0001) substrates prepared by a sublimation method called “step-controlled epitaxy”. Since the crystallinity of epilayers is improved during the step-controlled epitaxy, this growth technique is a key for getting high-quality crystal surfaces. Impurity doping is controlled during homoepitaxial growth by employing impurity gases, such as N₂, trimethylaluminum (TMA), and B₂H₆. A wide-range of carrier concentrations of 5 × 10¹³～3 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3 for n-type and 5 × 10¹⁶～3 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 for p-type are realized. The impurity-incorporation mechanism in the step-controlled epitaxy is discussed based on the C/Si ratio dependence of impurity doping.

Electrical properties of SiC grown by step-controlled epitaxy are determined precisely. A high electron mobility of 720 cm²/Vs is obtained in an undoped 4H-SiC epilayer with an electron concentration of 2.5 × 10^l6 cm^?3 at 300 K. This electron mobility is about two times higher than that of 6H-Sic (～380 cm²/Vs). High breakdown fields of 1～5 × 10⁶ V/cm are obtained for both 6H- and 4H-SiC, one order of magnitude higher than those for Si. A high saturation electron drift velocity of 1.6 × 10⁷ cm/s is obtained in 4H-Sic, which may make possible high performance of high-frequency 4H-SiC power devices. Impurity levels and deep levels are investigated by Hall effect, admittance spectroscopy, and DLTS measurement. Metal/4H-SiC Schottky barrier heights are characterized and a strong dependence on metal work function without strong “pinning” is elucidated.

Device processes are described for ion implantation. Interface properties of SiO₂/SiC are characterized in detail using metal-oxide-semicond.     

Silica on Silicon Carbide

Silicon carbide (SiC) as both the most important non-oxide ceramic and promising semiconductor material grows stoichiometric SiO ₂ as its native oxide. During passive oxidation, a surface transformation of SiC into silica takes place causing bulk volume and bulk mass increase. This review summarizes state-of-the-art information about the structural aspects of silicon carbide, silica, and SiC–SiO ₂ interfaces and discusses physicochemical properties and kinetics of the processes involved. A special section describes the electronic properties of carbide–oxide interfaces, which are inferior compared to Si–SiO ₂ interfaces, limiting the use of SiC-based electronics. In the oxidation of SiC there is a variety of parameters (e.g., porosity, presence of sintering aids, impurities, crystallographic orientation, surface treatment, and atmospheric composition) influencing the process. Therefore, the kinetics can be complex and will be discussed in detail. Nonetheless, a general linear-parabolic time-law can be found for most SiC materials for passive oxidation, thus indicating a mainly diffusion-controlled mechanism. The pronounced anisotropy of SiC expresses itself by quite different oxidation rates for the various crystallographic faces. Manifold impact factors are reflected by oxidation rate-constants for silicon carbide that vary over orders of magnitude. The understanding of SiC oxidation and silica formation is still limited; therefore, different oxidation models are presented and evaluated in the light of current knowledge.     

IR spectra of carbon-vacancy clusters in the topochemical transformation of silicon into silicon carbide

Using infrared (IR) spectroscopy and spectral ellipsometry, we experimentally confirmed the previously predicted mechanochemical effect of the stoichiometric composition disorder leading to the formation of carbon-vacancy structures in silicon carbide (SiC) films grown on silicon substrates by the atom substitution method. It was found that a band at 960 cm^–1 in the IR spectra of SiC films on silicon, corresponding to “carbon-vacancy clusters” is always present in SiC films grown under pure carbon monoxide (CO) or in a mixture of CO with silane (SiH₄) on Si substrates of different orientation and doping level and type. There is no absorption band in the region of 960 cm–1 in the IR spectra of SiC films synthesized at the optimum ratio of the CO and trichlorosilane (SiHCl₃) gas pressures. The previously predicted mechanism of the chemical reaction of substitution of Si atoms for carbon by the interaction of gases CO and SiHCl₃ on the surface of the silicon substrate, which leads to the formation of epitaxial layers of single-crystal SiC, is experimentally confirmed.     

Enhanced single photon emission in silicon carbide with Bull's eye cavities

The authors demonstrate a Bull's eye cavity design that is composed of circular Bragg gratings and micropillar optical cavity in 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) for single photon emission. Numerical calculations are used to investigate and optimize the emission rate and directionality of emission. Thanks to the optical mode resonances and Bragg reflections, the radiative decay rates of a dipole embedded in the cavity center is enhanced by 12.8 times as compared to that from a bulk 4H-SiC. In particular, a convergent angular distribution of the emission in far field is simultaneously achieved, which remarkably boost the collection efficiency. The findings of this work provide an alternative architecture to manipulate light—matter interactions for achieving high-efficient SiC single photon sources towards applications in quantum information technologies.     

基于光导半导体的MHz高重频可调谐脉冲产生技术研究

随着微波光子学的发展,新型光导微波技术利用高重频脉冲簇激光,入射到线性光导半导体器件中产生可调谐高功率电磁脉冲的方式受到广泛关注。SiC光导半导体开关（PCSS）具有高击穿场强,高饱和载流子速率,高抗辐射能力,高热传导率和高温工作稳定性等优点,是产生高重频、高功率、超短脉冲的重要固态电子器件。介绍了一种基于钒补偿半绝缘4H-SiC PCSS的MHz重复频率亚纳秒脉冲发生器。该发生器采用1 MHz,1030 nm可调谐光脉冲宽度的激光簇驱动源,4H-SiC PCSS的厚度为0.8 mm。整系统可得到最大输出电功率176 kW、最小半高宽约为365 ps的MHz重频短脉冲。     

Highly reproducible ideal SiC Schottky rectifiers: effects of surface preparation and thermal annealing on the Ni/6H-SiC barrier height

In this work, the effects of surface preparation and thermal annealing on the Ni/6H-SiC Schottky barrier height were studied by monitoring the forward I–V characteristics of Schottky diodes. The ideality factor n and the barrier height _B were found to be strongly dependent on the impurity species present at the metal/SiC interface. The physical mechanism which rules the Schottky barrier formation is discussed by considering the nature of the impurities left from the different surface preparation methods prior to metal deposition. In contrast, nickel silicide/SiC rectifiers (Ni₂Si/6H-SiC), formed by thermal reaction of Ni/6H-SiC above 600 °C, have an almost ideal I–V curve, independent of the surface preparation. Further improvement in the barrier height distribution can be obtained by increasing the annealing temperature to 950 °C. This behaviour is discussed in terms of the silicide phases and the consumption of a SiC layer during the thermal reaction. PACS 73.30.+y; 81.65.Cf; 81.05.Je     

HFCVD法制备纳米晶体碳化硅薄膜中氢流量对晶粒尺寸的影响

以甲烷、硅烷和氢气为反应气体,采用热丝化学气相沉积(HFCVD)法在单晶硅衬底上沉积纳米晶体碳化硅(SiC)薄膜.通过X射线衍射(XRD)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)分别对SiC薄膜的晶体结构和表面形貌进行分析.实验发现氢气流量对碳化硅薄膜晶粒尺寸有很大影响,当氢气流量从10SCCM变化到300SCCM时,薄膜晶粒的平均尺寸将由较大的400 nm左右减小到40 nm左右.