Effect of growth pressure on epitaxial graphene grown on 4H-SiC substrates by using ethene chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

The Si(0001) face and C(000-1) face dependences on growth pressure of epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on 4H-SiC substrates by ethene chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman). AFM revealed that EGs on Si-faced substrates had clear stepped morphologies due to surface step bunching. However, This EG formation did not occur on C-faced substrates. It was shown by μ-Raman that the properties of EG on both polar faces were different. EGs on Si-faced substrates were relatively thinner and more uniform than on C-faced substrates at low growth pressure. On the other hand, D band related defects always appeared in EGs on Si-faced substrates, but they did not appear in EG on C-faced substrate at an appropriate growth pressure. This was due to the μ-Raman covering the step edges when measurements were performed on Si-faced substrates. The results of this study are useful for optimized growth of EG on polar surfaces of SiC substrates.