Process for the homoepitaxial growth of single-crystal silicon carbide films on silicon carbide wafers

Claim 1

A method of producing a device quality silicon carbide film on a silicon carbide substrate of the same polytype comprising: homoepitaxially depositing a film of a SiC polytype on a specially prepared planar surface of a SiC substrate, wherein the planar surface can have any non-zero inclination relative to a basal plane from less than 0.1° to about 6° and wherein the planar surface has been subjected to a suitable pregrowth etch that eliminates all surface features that can act as sites of heterogeneous nucleation of a polytype different from the substrate during subsequent film growth.

Claim 2

A method of producing a device quality silicon carbide film on a silicon carbide substrate of the same polytype comprising: homoepitaxially depositing a film of a SiC polytype on a specially prepared planar surface of a SiC substrate, wherein the planar surface can have any non-zero inclination relative to a basal plane from less than 0.1° to about 6° and wherein the planar surface has been subjected to a suitable pregrowth etch that eliminates all surface features that can act as sites of heterogeneous nucleation of a polytype different from the substrate during subsequent film growth.

Claim 11

A method of producing a single-crystal SiC film homoepitaxially deposited on a single-crystal SiC substrate, wherein the film is characterized by a smooth surface morphology, substantially uniform thickness, and a low, device-quality defect level, said method comprising: lapping and polishing a SiC substrate crystal to expose a planar surface that is inclined in any direction by any non-zero angle in the range from less than 0.1° to about 6° with respect to a basal plane; subjecting the planar surface of the substrate to a pregrowth etch in an HCl/H 2 mixture at a temperature in the range 1300° to 1450° C.; heating the substrate in a growth chamber; introducing a carrier gas, a vaporized silicon-containing material and a vaporized carbon-containing material into the growth chamber while providing sufficient energy to create surface diffusion of silicon and carbon species at the substrate planar surface and establish a homoepitaxial growth of single-crystal SiC; and maintaining the carrier gas, silicon-containing material and carbon containing material flows and the energy levels for a time sufficient to grow a film of desired thickness.

Claim 12

A method of producing a single-crystal SiC film homoepitaxially deposited on a single-crystal SiC substrate, wherein the film is characterized by a smooth surface morphology, substantially uniform thickness, and a low, device-quality defect level, said method comprising: lapping and polishing a SiC substrate crystal to expose a planar surface that is inclined in any direction by any non-zero angle in the range from less than 0.1° to about 6° with respect to a basal plane; subjecting the planar surface of the substrate to a pregrowth etch in an HCl/H 2 mixture at a temperature in the range 1300° to 1450° C.; heating the substrate in a growth chamber; introducing a carrier gas, a vaporized silicon-containing material and a vaporized carbon-containing material into the growth chamber while providing sufficient energy to create surface diffusion of silicon and carbon species at the substrate planar surface and establish a homoepitaxial growth of single-crystal SiC; and maintaining the carrier gas, silicon-containing material and carbon containing material flows and the energy levels for a time sufficient to grow a film of desired thickness.

Claim 17

A method according to claim wherein the carrier gas is H 2 .