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.