Characterization of protrusions and stacking faults in 3C-SiC grown by sublimation epitaxy using 3C-SiC-on-Si seeding layers

Abstract

In this article, sublimation growth of 3C-SiC on 3C-SiC-on-Si seeding layers was evaluated by characterizing the densities of protrusions and stacking faults (SF). Both defects are among the most critical concerning the growth process and the realization of high quality material for device applications. By variation of growth parameters like temperature, growth rate and 3C-SiC-thickness we conducted a series of experiments and characterized these layers by optical microscopy and KOH etching. The protrusion density is predetermined by the seeding layers and was kept at a constant level, whereas a decrease of SF-density was observed with increasing layer thickness during subsequent sublimation growth steps. Therefore, in the case of Sublimation Epitaxy (SE) it has been found appropriate to distinguish between defects that can be reduced during SE and defects that are merely reproduced from the seeding material during sublimation growth. Furthermore, a weak trend towards a decrease of SF-density with increasing growth temperature was observed. The findings in this work demonstrates the potential of SE in growing thick and high-quality 3C-SiC layers if sufficiently good seeding layers were available.