Selective epitaxial growth of silicon carbide on SiO2 masked Si(100): The effects of temperature

Abstract

The effect of substrate temperature on the growth rate, crystal grain size, and SiO2 mask stability in the selective epitaxial growth of silicon carbide deposited from SiH4, C2H4, and HCl1 on silicon dioxide masked silicon (100) was examined. Depositing at atmospheric pressure and a Cl/Si input ratio of 50 to achieve good selectivity, increasing the substrate temperature from 950 to 1000 °C increased the growth rate and the crystal size, and improved the film’s surface morphology, but also enhanced the SiO2 mask degradation rate, causing a loss of selectivity for long deposition times. For prolonged deposition times at 1000 °C, SiC nucleation occurred at both voids formed in the mask from its reaction with the silicon substrate and on the SiO2 mask itself—a consequence of increasing oxide surface roughness.