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Status of 4H-SiC Substrate and Epitaxial Materials for Commercial Power Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

A.R. Powell
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
J.J. Sumakeris
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
R.T. Leonard
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
M.F. Brady
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
St.G. Müller
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
V.F. Tsvetkov
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
H.McD Hobgood
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
A.A. Burk
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
M.J. Paisley
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
R.C. Glass
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
C.H. Carter Jr.
Affiliation:
Cree Inc, 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703, USA
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Abstract

The performance enhancements offered by the next generation of SiC high power devices offer potential for enormous growth in SiC power device markets in the next few years. For this growth to occur, it is imperative that substrate and epitaxial material quality increases to meet the needs of the targeted applications. We will discuss the status and requirements for SiC substrates and epitaxial material for power devices such as Schottky and PiN diodes. For the SiC Schottky device where current production is approaching 50 amp devices, there are several material aspects that are key. These include; wafer diameter (3-inch and 100-mm), micropipe density (<0.3 cm−2 for 3-inch substrates and 16 cm−2 for 100-mm substrates), epitaxial defect densities (total electrically active defects <1.5 cm−2), epitaxial doping and epitaxial thickness uniformity. For the PiN diodes the major challenge is the degradation of the Vf characteristics due to the introduction of stacking faults during the device operation. We have demonstrated that the stacking faults are often generated from basal plane dislocations in the active region of the device. Additionally we have demonstrated that by reducing the basal plane dislocation density, stable PiN diodes can be produced. At present typical basal plane dislocation densities in our epitaxial layers are 100 to 500 cm−2; however, we have achieved basal plane dislocation densities as low as 4 cm−2 in epitaxial layers grown on 8° off-axis 4H-SiC substrates.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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