Theoretical study on the improvement of the doping efficiency of Al in 4H-SiC by co-doping group-IVB elements

The p-type doping efficiency of 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) is rather low due to the large ionization energies of p-type dopants. Such an issue impedes the exploration of the full advantage of 4H-SiC for semiconductor devices. In this study, we show that co-doping group-IVB elements effectively decreases the ionization energy of the most widely used p-type dopant, i.e., aluminum (Al), through the defect-level repulsion between the energy levels of group-IVB elements and that of Al in 4H-SiC. Among group-IVB elements Ti has the most prominent effectiveness. Ti decreases the ionization energy of Al by nearly 50%, leading to a value as low as ~0.13 eV. As a result, the ionization rate of Al with Ti co-doping is up to ~5 times larger than that without co-doping at room temperature when the doping concentration is up to 10¹⁸ cm^-3. This work may encourage the experimental co-doping of group-IVB elements such as Ti and Al to significantly improve the p-type doping efficiency of 4H-SiC.     

基于碳化硅衬底的宽禁带半导体外延

宽禁带半导体具备禁带宽度大、电子饱和飘移速度高、击穿场强大等优势,是制备高功率密度、高频率、低损耗电子器件的理想材料。碳化硅(SiC)材料具有热导率高、化学稳定性好、耐高温等优点,在SiC衬底上外延宽禁带半导体材料,对充分发挥宽禁带半导体材料的优势,并提升宽禁带半导体电子器件的性能具有重要意义。得益于SiC衬底质量持续提升及成本不断降低,基于SiC衬底的宽禁带半导体电子市场占比呈现逐年增加的态势。在SiC衬底上外延生长高质量的宽禁带半导体材料是提高宽禁带半导体电子器件性能及可靠性的关键瓶颈。本文综述了近年来国内外研究者们在SiC衬底上外延SiC、氮化镓(GaN)、氧化镓(Ga₂O₃)所取得的研究进展,并展望了SiC衬底上宽禁带半导体外延的发展及应用前景。     

磨料形貌及分散介质对4H碳化硅晶片研磨质量的影响研究

研磨作为4H碳化硅(4H-SiC)晶片加工的重要工序之一，对4H-SiC衬底晶圆的质量具有重要影响。本文研究了金刚石磨料形貌和分散介质对4H-SiC晶片研磨过程中材料去除速率和面型参数的影响，基于研磨过程中金刚石磨料与4H-SiC晶片表面的接触情况，推导出简易的晶片材料去除速率模型。研究结果表明，磨料形貌显著影响4H-SiC晶片的材料去除速率，材料去除速率越高，晶片的总厚度变化(TTV)越小。由于4H-SiC中C面和Si面的各向异性，4H-SiC晶片研磨过程中C面的材料去除速率高于Si面。在分散介质的影响方面：水基体系研磨液的Zeta电位绝对值较高，磨料分散均匀，水的高导热系数有利于控制研磨过程中的盘面温度；乙二醇体系研磨液的Zeta电位绝对值小，磨料易发生团聚，增大研磨过程的磨料切入深度，晶片的材料去除速率提高，晶片最大划痕深度随之增大。     

Quantum confinement and surface chemistry of 0.8–1.6 nm hydrosilylated silicon nanocrystals

In the framework of density functional theory(DFT), we have studied the electronic properties of alkene/alkynehydrosilylated silicon nanocrystals(Si NCs) in the size range from 0.8 nm to 1.6 nm. Among the alkenes with all kinds of functional groups considered in this work, only those containing –NH2and –C4H3S lead to significant hydrosilylationinduced changes in the gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) of an Si NC at the ground state. The quantum confinement effect is dominant for all of the alkenehydrosilylated Si NCs at the ground state. At the excited state, the prevailing effect of surface chemistry only occurs at the smallest(0.8 nm) Si NCs hydrosilylated with alkenes containing –NH2and –C4H3S. Although the alkyne hydrosilylation gives rise to a more significant surface chemistry effect than alkene hydrosilylation, the quantum confinement effect remains dominant for alkyne-hydrosilylated Si NCs at the ground state. However, at the excited state, the effect of surface chemistry induced by the hydrosilylation with conjugated alkynes is strong enough to prevail over that of quantum confinement.     

半导体碳化硅湿法腐蚀工艺研究

碳化硅(SiC)具有禁带宽度大、电子饱和漂移速度高、击穿场强高、热导率高、化学稳定性好等优异特性,是制备高性能功率器件等半导体器件的理想材料。得益于工艺简单、操作便捷、设备要求低等优点,湿法腐蚀已作为晶体缺陷分析、表面改性的常规工艺手段,应用到了SiC晶体生长和加工中的质量检测以及SiC器件制造。根据腐蚀机制不同,湿法腐蚀可以分为电化学腐蚀和化学腐蚀。本文综述了不同湿法腐蚀工艺的腐蚀机理、腐蚀装置和应用领域,并展望了SiC湿法腐蚀工艺的发展前景。     

4H碳化硅单晶中的位错

4H碳化硅(4H-SiC)单晶具有禁带宽度大、载流子迁移率高、热导率高和稳定性良好等优异特性,在高功率电力电子、射频/微波电子和量子信息等领域具有广阔的应用前景。经过多年的发展,6英寸(1英寸=2.54 cm)4H-SiC单晶衬底和同质外延薄膜已得到了产业化应用。然而,4H-SiC单晶中的总位错密度仍高达10³~10⁴ cm^-2,阻碍了4H-SiC单晶潜力的充分发挥。本文介绍了4H-SiC单晶中位错的主要类型,重点讲述4H-SiC单晶生长、衬底晶圆加工以及同质外延过程中位错的产生、转变和湮灭机理,并概述4H-SiC单晶中位错的表征方法,最后讲述了位错对4H-SiC单晶衬底和外延薄膜的性质,以及4H-SiC基功率器件性质的影响。     

A Silicon Cluster Based Single Electron Transistor with Potential Room-Temperature Switching

We demonstrate the fabrication of a single electron transistor device based on a single ultra-small silicon quantum dot connected to a gold break junction with a nanometer scale separation. The gold break junction is created through a controllable electromigration process and the individual silicon quantum dot in the junction is determined to be a Si_(170) cluster. Differential conductance as a function of the bias and gate voltage clearly shows the Coulomb diamond which confirms that the transport is dominated by a single silicon quantum dot. It is found that the charging energy can be as large as 300 meV, which is a result of the large capacitance of a small silicon quantum dot(～1.8 nm). This large Coulomb interaction can potentially enable a single electron transistor to work at room temperature. The level spacing of the excited state can be as large as 10 meV, which enables us to manipulate individual spin via an external magnetic field. The resulting Zeeman splitting is measured and the g factor of 2.3 is obtained, suggesting relatively weak electron-electron interaction in the silicon quantum dot which is beneficial for spin coherence time.     

碳化硅单晶生长用高纯碳化硅粉体的研究进展

碳化硅(SiC)以其宽带隙、高临界击穿场强、高热导率、高载流子饱和迁移率等优点,被认为是目前较具发展前景的半导体材料之一。近年来,物理气相传输(PVT)法在制备大尺寸、高质量SiC单晶衬底方面取得了重大突破,进一步推动了SiC在高压、高频、高温电子器件领域的应用。SiC粉体是PVT法生长SiC单晶的原料,其纯度会直接影响SiC单晶的杂质含量,从而影响SiC单晶的电学性质,其中生长高质量的半绝缘SiC单晶更是直接受限于SiC粉体中N元素的含量。因此,合成高纯的SiC粉体是PVT法生长高质量SiC单晶的关键。本文主要介绍了高纯SiC粉体的合成方法及研究现状,重点对气相法和固相法合成高纯SiC粉体的优缺点进行了评述,并提出了今后高纯SiC粉体合成的发展方向。     

数值模拟顶部籽晶溶液生长法制备单晶碳化硅的研究进展

宽禁带半导体材料碳化硅(SiC)凭借着其高击穿场强、高热导率、耐高温、高化学稳定性和抗辐射等优异性能，在电力电子器件领域尤其是高温、高频、高功率等应用场景下有着巨大潜力。大尺寸、高质量、低成本的单晶SiC的制备是SiC相关半导体产品规模化应用的前提。顶部籽晶溶液生长(TSSG)法生长的单晶SiC有着晶体质量高、易扩径、易p型掺杂等优势，有望成为制备单晶SiC的主流方法。但目前由于该方法涉及的生长机理复杂，研究者对其内部机理的理解还不够充分，难以对TSSG生长设备和方法进行有效的改进与优化。利用计算机对TSSG法生长单晶SiC生长过程进行数值模拟被认为是对其内部机理探究的有效途径之一。本文首先回顾了TSSG法生长单晶SiC和相关数值模拟分析的发展历程，介绍了TSSG法生长单晶SiC和数值模拟的基本原理，然后介绍了数值模拟方法计算分析TSSG法生长单晶SiC模型涉及的主要模块、影响单晶生长的主要因素(如马兰戈尼力、浮力、电磁力等),以及对数值模型的优化方法。最后，指出了数值模拟方法计算分析TSSG法生长单晶SiC在未来的重点研究方向。     

碳化硅晶圆的表面/亚表面损伤研究进展

表面无损伤、粗糙度低的半导体碳化硅(4H-SiC)衬底是制造电力电子器件和射频微波器件的理想衬底材料，在新能源、轨道交通、智能电网和5G通信等领域具有广阔的应用前景。4H-SiC衬底的加工过程包括切片、减薄、研磨、抛光和清洗，在4H-SiC衬底加工过程中引入的表面/亚表面损伤均严重影响材料性能、同质外延薄膜性质，以及器件性能和可靠性。本文将重点介绍4H-SiC晶片在切片、减薄、研磨、抛光等各个加工环节中表面/亚表面损伤的形成和去除机制，基于4H-SiC晶圆表面/亚表面损伤的检测方法，综述亚表面损伤的形貌和表征参量，并简单介绍三种常见的亚表面损伤的消除方法，分析其技术优势和发展瓶颈，对去除亚表面损伤工艺的发展趋势进行了展望。