IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Electronics Wednesday Sessions
       Session EL-WeA

Paper EL-WeA9
Improved Surface Preparation for High Quality Homoepitaxial Growth of SiC

Wednesday, October 31, 2001, 4:40 pm, Room 124

Session: Semiconductor Growth
Presenter: W.V. Lampert, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Authors: W.V. Lampert, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
C.J. Eiting, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
S.A. Smith, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
L. Grazulis, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
J.S. Solomon, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
T.W. Haas, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Correspondent: Click to Email
Surface quality is a key factor in determining the quality of films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Fullerene (C @sub 60@) and silicon (Si) effusion cells were used to grow superior quality homoepitaxial 6H-SiC. Prior to ex-situ processing, the wafers used for this study had the scratched surfaces and subsurface damage typical of commercial SiC wafers. Our ex-situ surface preparation includes chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), carbon dioxide (CO @sub 2@) cleaning, hydrogen fluoride (HF) etching, de-ionized (DI) water rinsing, and nitrogen gas drying. Various surface analysis tools, such as Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), have been used to characterize the effects of these ex-situ processing steps. The results show that while our CMP processing adds surface contamination, it also leaves a scratch-free and stepped surface that is much more suitable for epitaxial growth. The results further show that the HF etching process step removes the contaminants left by the CMP process step and does not adversely effect the stepped surface. Results of these measurements and their implications for successful growth are discussed.