SCALEABLE PROCESS FOR CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION OF LARGE AREA HETEROEPITAXIAL BETA-SIC ON TIC USING GASES WITH 1:1 SI:C STOICHIO

A PROCESS IS BEING DEVELOPED TO GROW HETEROEPITAXIAL BETA-SILICON CARBIDE, A.K.A 3C-SIC, ON TITANIUM CARBIDE SINGLE CRYSTALS USING NOVELSOURCE GASES. TWO GASES ARE BEING TESTED IN THIS INVESTIGATION THAT CONTAIN SILICON AND CARBON IN A 1:1 RATIO. A CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) PROCESS IS BEING DEVELOPED TO GROW SINGLE CRYSTAL 3CIC USING EACH GAS. A BASELINE CVD REACTOR AND PROCESS IS BEING ESTABLISHED FOR PRODUCTION OF HIGH QUALITY 3C-SIC. MATERIAL QUALITY IS BEING MEASURED TO VERIFY THE BASELINE PROCESS AND CORRELATE RESULTS WITH PROCESS SEQUENCES THAT CONSISTENTLY PROVIDE THE BEST MATERIALS. THIS REACTOR PLUS INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM THE PROCESS RUNS IS FORMING THE BASIS FOR A DEVELOPMENT EFFORT BEING UNDERTAKEN IN LATER EFFORT TO INCREASE THE GROWTH RATE AND YIELD OF THE CVD PROCESS WITHOUT DEGRADING THE QUALITY OF 3C-SIC CRYSTALS. WHEN SUCCESSFUL, THIS RESEARCH COULD LEAD TO A PROCESS WHICH WILL MAKE FEASIBLE MASS PRODUCTION OF HIGH QUALITY 3C-SIC SINGLE CRYSTALS SUITABLE FOR THE FABRICATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES. THE COMMERCIAL AVAILABILITY OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE GRADE 3C-SIC COULD REVOLUTIONIZE SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS AND LEAD TO THE CREATION OF ULTRAFAST, HIGH TEMPERATURE FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS WHICH ARE EXTREMELY RADIATION HARD.