Development of Silicon Carbide Thick Epitaxy with High Growth Rate and Near-Perfect Surface for Megawatt Switching Applications

A thick SiC epitaxy process was demonstrated by SemiSouth in Phase I, as the growth (or deposition) rate was boosted from 5 um/h to 20 um/h, and thickness uniformity was kept to 5% or below. In the Phase 2 effort, it is proposed that the processes be developed for production by re-designing and optimizing the reactor susceptor in a research reactor to minimize cost and risk. Specifically, the surface morphology will be improved to near perfect finish as a result of this process development, while maintaining a very high (15-30 um/h) growth rate needed for economical production and minimizing risk to production reactor systems. Once optimized, the process will be transferred to the production system and offered as a product, enabling a MegaWatt class of SiC devices to emerge in the marketplace.