Design and Optimization of Thermal Field for PVT Method 8-Inch SiC Crystal Growth

Abstract

As a wide bandgap semiconductor material, silicon carbide has promising prospects for application. However, its commercial production size is currently 6 inches, and the difficulty in preparing larger single crystals increases exponentially with size increasing. Large-size single crystal growth is faced with the enormous problem of radial growth conditions deteriorating. Based on simulation tools, the physical field of 8-inch crystal growth is modeled and studied. By introducing the design of the seed cavity, the radial temperature difference in the seed crystal surface is reduced by 88% from 93 K of a basic scheme to 11 K, and the thermal field conditions with uniform radial temperature and moderate temperature gradient are obtained. Meanwhile, the effects of different processing conditions and relative positions of key structures on the surface temperature and axial temperature gradients of the seed crystals are analyzed in terms of new thermal field design, including induction power, frequency, diameter and height of coils, the distance between raw materials and the seed crystal. Meanwhiles, better process conditions and relative positions under experimental conditions are obtained. Based on the optimized conditions, the thermal field verification under seedless conditions is carried out, discovering that the single crystal deposition rate is 90% of that of polycrystalline deposition under the experimental conditions. Meanwhile, an 8-inch polycrystalline with 9.6 mm uniform deposition was successfully obtained after 120 h crystal growth, whose convexity is reduced from 13 mm to 6.4 mm compared with the original scheme. The results indicate that the optimized conditions can be used for single-crystal growth.

Effects of Surface Size and Shape of Evaporation Area on SiC Single-Crystal Growth Using the PVT Method

“…The SiC polycrystalline powder began to undergo thermal decomposition and sublimation at a temperature of more than 2200 °C, forming a temperature gradient between the higher-temperature polycrystalline SiC powder and the lower-temperature top region of the SiC seed crystal. Under the action of the temperature gradient, the relevant gas-phase substances were transported upwards and reacted, and the mixed gas was transported to the surface of SiC seed crystal for reaction to produce high-purity SiC, and then attached and deposited to form SiC single crystals [17]. The following conditions were applied for electromagnetic induction: (1) The system is axisymmetric, and is analyzed in a two-dimensional plane for simulation.…”