Silicon Carbide Bulk Crystal Growth at High Growth Rates

The development of a process to produce low defect density silicon carbide (SiC) boules at high growth rates will significantly reduce the cost of wafers and thus accelerate the rapid commercialization of SiC for high power and high temperature device applications. The objectives of this Phase II project is to improve the process development of a radically new approach to grow bulk SiC of a single polytype (4H) at growth rates at least twice the rate of conventional methods to produce commercially competitive wafers. In Phase I, the feasibility of a novel high growth rate method to grow single crystal 4H n-type SiC boules at high growth rates was demonstrated. In Phase II, the high growth rates process will be optimized for cost effectiveness, yield, and crystal quality, especially a significant improvement in polytype homogeneity to develop a commercial product. Further, the wafers derived from the boules will be characterized for micropipe density, the distribution of micropipes within a wafer area, and the variation in material properties (polytype homogeneity, and defect density) from one wafer to another derived from a given boule and from different boules.