SILICON CARBIDE WITHOUT DEFECTS

Abstract

ALONG-SOUGHT METHOD to grow defect-free silicon carbide (SiC) single crystals for use as semiconductor wafers has been developed by a team of Japanese researchers. The technology advance means that SiC could now begin to be used as a more durable replacement for standard silicon semiconductors in a range of electronic devices for high-power, highfrequency, and high-temperature applications. Silicon carbide has been studied since the 1950s as a potential replacement for silicon in certain electronic devices. One lingering problem has been that SiC does not have a liquid phase, so the standard technique of controlled solidification of a liquid, used to make silicon and other semiconductors, can't be used. Instead, a vapor deposition method in which SiC is sublimed onto a seed crystal is used. But this technique leads to misalignment of some SiC molecular layers, introducing lattice defects that interfere with performance and have limited the material's use. Daisuke Nakamura and Kazumasa Takatori ...