Smart-cut-like laser slicing of GaN substrate using its own nitrogen

Tanaka, Atsushi; Sugiura, Ryuji; Kawaguchi, Daisuke; Yui, Toshiki; Wani, Yotaro; Aratani, Tomomi; Watanabe, Hirotaka; Sena, Hadi; Honda, Yoshio; Igasaki, Yasuhiro; Amano, Hiroshi

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97159-w

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…[14][15][16] The slicing of semiconductor wafers can be realized by exfoliating the damage layer from the perfect single-crystal region via mechanical stress, swelling stress, or thermal stress. [9,17,18] By replacing wire sawing with ultrafast laser slicing, the material loss and slicing duration per wafer are significantly reduced. [9,19] Moreover, the machining of ultrafast laser-sliced 4H-SiC includes only fine lapping and CMP, which further reduces the processing loss and improves the processing efficiency of 4H-SiC wafers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slicing of 4H‐SiC Wafers Combining Ultrafast Laser Irradiation and Bandgap‐Selective Photo‐Electrochemical Exfoliation

Shao

Pei

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Inter

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High‐efficiency and low‐loss processing is the mainstay to reduce the cost and deepen the application of 4H silicon carbide (4H‐SiC) wafers in high‐power and high‐frequency electronics. In this study, the high‐yield slicing of 4H‐SiC wafers is realized by combining femtosecond laser irradiation and bandgap‐selective photo‐electrochemical (PEC) exfoliation. By combining light‐absorption measurements, micro‐Raman, and micro‐photoluminescence characterizations, it is found that the damage layer formed inside 4H‐SiC after femtosecond‐laser irradiation consists of amorphous silicon and amorphous carbon. This indicates that the femtosecond‐laser irradiation leads to phase separation in 4H‐SiC. The bandgap of the damage layer is 0.4 eV. Taking advantage of the different bandgap energies of the damage layer and the perfect 4H‐SiC region, the damage layer is removed from the perfect region of 4H‐SiC by using bandgap‐selective PEC etching. During the PEC etching, light‐generated holes can selectively oxidize and corrode the damaged layer with the assistance of the HF solution, and leave the upper and lower perfect 4H‐SiC layers being intact. The current work contributes to the development of the high‐yield and high‐throughput femtosecond laser slicing of 4H‐SiC wafers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slicing of 4H‐SiC Wafers Combining Ultrafast Laser Irradiation and Bandgap‐Selective Photo‐Electrochemical Exfoliation

Shao

Pei

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Inter

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“…[1] GaN was one of the materials affected by the shortage of semiconductors, which is important for the technological industry due to their optical and electrical properties, with applications in GaN-based power devices, full-color displays, Schottky barrier diodes, light-emitting diodes, highfrequency devices, laser diodes, highelectron-mobility transistors, piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems devices, and solar cells. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] However, the global semiconductors shortage begins to decrease, and new applications of GaN for nanotechnology and microtechnology are investigated, owing to its wide bandgap of 3.4 eV (wurtzite structure) and 3.2 eV (zincblende structure). GaN nanostructures, such as nanorods, nanowires, nanotubes, GaN microneedle crystals are grown via GaAs substrates decomposition, using ultrahigh-pure anhydrous ammonia as nitrogen precursor at 900 °C for 4 min.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical and Structural Analysis of GaN Microneedle Crystals Obtained via GaAs Substrates Decomposition and their Possible Growth Model Using the Volmer–Weber Mechanism

Gastellóu

Garcı́a

Herrera

et al. 2022

Physica Status Solidi (b)

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GaN microneedle crystals are grown via GaAs substrates decomposition, using ultrahigh‐pure anhydrous ammonia as nitrogen precursor at 900 °C for 4 min. The X‐ray diffraction pattern shows the possible cubic and hexagonal coexistence of phases for the GaN highest intensity peak. Scanning electron microscopy presents a seaflower‐type growth for GaN microneedles, which can be related to factors such as lattice mismatch and substrate roughness due to the cleaning process. On the other hand, energy‐dispersive spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations demonstrate the elemental contributions of gallium and nitrogen for the GaN microneedle. Transmission electron microscopy shows uniform growth with an interplanar spacing of 2.76 Å. In addition, a possible growth model by hexagonal crystals stacking is proposed for obtaining GaN microneedles using the mechanism of Volmer–Weber growth. Photoluminescence spectrum presents an energy emission peak in the ultraviolet band with a value of 3.40 eV (364 nm), which is related to the band‐to‐band transition, and Raman scattering shows stress in the GaN microneedles due to the presence of different vibration modes for hexagonal GaN, indicating that several microneedles break.

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“…To address this issue, a recycling process for GaN substrates using a laser slicing technique has been developed. [35][36][37][38] Figure 1 shows an overview of the GaN substrate recycling process. The thicknesses described in the figure represent the design values of the experiment in this study.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Tanaka et al has reported that GaN high electron mobility transistors exhibit similar electrical properties before and after laser slicing to a thickness of 50 μm 35) and that a 8-μmthick epitaxial layer could be successfully grown on the GaN substrate after laser slicing. 36) However, the electrical properties of the devices on a recycled wafer, which are essential to demonstrate the recyclability of a GaN substrate, have yet to be investigated.…”

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confidence: 99%

Demonstration of recycling process for GaN substrates using laser slicing technique towards cost reduction of GaN vertical power MOSFETs

Ishida,

Ushijima,

Nakabayashi

et al. 2024

Appl. Phys. Express

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To address the issue of the high cost of GaN substrates, a recycling process for GaN substrates using a laser slicing technique was investigated. The channel properties of lateral MOSFETs and the reverse characteristics of vertical PN diodes, which represent the main components of vertical power devices, exhibited no degradation either before and after laser slicing or due to the overall GaN substrate recycling process. This result indicates that the proposed recycling process is an effective method for reducing the cost of GaN substrates and has the potential to encourage the popularization of GaN vertical power devices.

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Smart-cut-like laser slicing of GaN substrate using its own nitrogen

Cited by 11 publications

References 41 publications

Slicing of 4H‐SiC Wafers Combining Ultrafast Laser Irradiation and Bandgap‐Selective Photo‐Electrochemical Exfoliation

Slicing of 4H‐SiC Wafers Combining Ultrafast Laser Irradiation and Bandgap‐Selective Photo‐Electrochemical Exfoliation

Optical and Structural Analysis of GaN Microneedle Crystals Obtained via GaAs Substrates Decomposition and their Possible Growth Model Using the Volmer–Weber Mechanism

Demonstration of recycling process for GaN substrates using laser slicing technique towards cost reduction of GaN vertical power MOSFETs

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