Properties of H+ Implanted 4H-SiC as Related to Exfoliation of Thin Crystalline Films

Abstract

Ion-beam assisted exfoliation of thin single crystalline layers of 4H-SiC may facilitate heterogeneous integration of SiC devices with silicon CMOS circuits, and lead to lower cost SiC power devices. Practical device structures require H+ ion implantation and wafer bonding in order to achieve transfer of crystalline layers to new handle substrates. However, for initial optimization of the exfoliation step it is sufficient to monitor surface blistering as a function of ion implantation parameters and the subsequent thermal annealing conditions. In this study we show that for 1 μm thick 4H-SiC exfoliated films, there is an optimum implantation dose of ∼ 6 × 1016 cm−2 as well as an optimum implantation temperature of ∼ 300°C. Some exploratory data for 500 keV and 1 MeV implant energies are also shown.