Rapid Atomic Level, Mechano Chemical Polishing of Silicon Carbide Substrates

Currently one of the outstanding challenges is the affordable, volume production of epi-ready, 100 mm SiC wafers that are scratch-free and have atomic-scale surface finish. As SiC is relatively chemically inert and mechanically hard, aggressive polishing methods involving very hard particles have been used to achieve high removal rates, but such methods create a high degree of sub-surface damage and scratches. Sinmat Inc. working together with the University of Florida will develop an industrially robust and low cost mechano-chemical polishing (MCP) method for production of epi-ready, 100mm SiC wafers in a rapid and reliable manner. By achieving excellent surface finish at rapid removal rates and low slurry and process costs, Sinmat estimates that the final polishing costs can be reduced by more than 80% over existing planarization methods, while enhancing the surface finish over existing processes. This STTR project is also in close partnership with two market leading companies who will supply the SiC wafers, grow GaN films on polished wafers, fabricate power devices, conduct evaluation and benchmark the results relative to current industry state of the art and provide timely data feedback to enable rapid process development and commercialization of the MCP process.