Growth of thick and low‐doped 4H‐SiC epitaxial layers in a vertical radiant‐heating VPE reactor

Abstract

AbstractA new vertical radiant‐heating reactor has been designed and constructed for thick SiC vapor‐phase epitaxy (VPE). Growth of 4H‐SiC epitaxial layers is performed under a reduced pressure as low as 6.7 × 103 Pa. A high growth rate exceeding 16 µm/h has been achieved in the reactor. Smooth surface is obtained by controlling the input C/Si ratio of source gases, and we have demonstrated growth of very thick layers over 160 µm with a mirrorlike morphology. Low‐background doping in the 1013 cm−3 range (n‐type) and intentional n‐type doping in a range from low 1015 to low 1019 cm−3 have also been demonstrated. We have performed photoluminescence spectroscopy and deep level transient spectroscopy to check impurities and intrinsic defects in the epitaxial layers, and the spectra show that the layers have a good purity and quality. © 2002 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 138(4): 18–25, 2002; DOI 10.1002/eej.1134