Study of a new type nominal “washboard-like” triangular defects in 4H-SiC 4° off-axis (0 0 0 1) Si-face homoepitaxial layers

Morphological and microstructural analysis of triangular defects in 4H-SiC homoepitaxial layers

“…The blue area corresponds to the region of TD-I, and the bright blue position indicates that the intensity of the FTO mode at 796 cm −1 was strong, from which it can be inferred that the 3C-SiC layer was thick. 16 The intensity ratio of FTO at 796 cm −1 to that at 776 cm −1 along the dotted line further demonstrates the distribution of 3C-SiC inclusions. In the denoted areas I and III of Fig.…”

“…Besides, triangular defects with a washboard-like surface morphology have also been systematically investigated by a few research groups. 13–16 Accordingly, the formation mechanisms for a large triangular terrace have been proposed. However, the boundary structure between the triangular defect and the normal 4H-SiC has not been analyzed in detail.…”

Influence of Growth Process on Suppression of Surface Morphological Defects in 4H-SiC Homoepitaxial Layers

“…The surface of the grown epitaxial wafer was observed by SEM, and the main defects observed are shown in Figure 2 . The two defect types are comet defects and triangle defects; comet defects are caused by downfall defects, while triangle defects may be caused by structural defects inherited from the substrate in addition to dropouts [ 1 , 27 ].…”

“…Other structural defects, such as through edge dislocation (TED) and through screw dislocation (TSD), cause surface pits and increase leakage current, which are less destructive. The main destructive defects are instant surface dislocation (BPD) defects and stacking faults (SF), which are likely to continuously increase the on-resistance of bipolar devices [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Surface defects, such as dump, scratch, particle, downfall (DF), triangle (TD), comet and carrot defects, are typically detrimental and easily observable, and often lead to device failure [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Influence of Carbon Source on the Buffer Layer for 4H-SiC Homoepitaxial Growth

“…Introducing a buffer layer can effectively mitigate this gradient and enhance interface integrity. Previous studies have primarily focused on the growth process’s effects on the epitaxial layer, with limited research examining its impact on both the buffer and subsequent epitaxial layers [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. This study systematically investigates the effects of the growth process on the buffer layer and subsequent epitaxial layer in the production of 6-inch 4H-SiC epitaxial wafers.…”