Recent Developments in the High-Rate Growth of SiC Epitaxial Layers by the Chemical Vapor Deposition Method

Abstract

Although the performance of existing SiC power devices is superior to that of Si power devices, SiC power devices are not in general use. This is because their production costs are so high that the devices have not been accepted in the power-electronics market. Because the costs of homoepitaxial growth processes involving chemical vapor deposition (CVD) make up the largest proportion of the total cost of producing SiC wafers, an improvement in the growth rate is highly desirable. In this review, I explain three factors that prevent epitaxial growth and show that homogeneous nucleation in the gas phase is the main factor that prevents high-rate growth. And then I introduce recent developments in the high-rate growth of SiC epitaxial layers by CVD. I focus on three topics that realize high-rate growth, namely partial pressure control method, halide method and high efficient gas supply method.