Table Of ContentSILICON CARBIDE -
MATERIALS, PROCESSING
AND APPLICATIONS IN
ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Edited by Moumita Mukherjee
Silicon Carbide - Materials, Processing and Applications in Electronic Devices
Edited by Moumita Mukherjee
Published by InTech
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Silicon Carbide - Materials, Processing and Applications in Electronic Devices,
Edited by Moumita Mukherjee
p. cm.
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Contents
Preface IX
Part 1 Silicon Carbide: Theory, Crystal Growth, Defects,
Characterization, Surface and Interface Properties 1
Chapter 1 Mechanical Properties of Amorphous Silicon Carbide 3
Kun Xue, Li-Sha Niu and Hui-Ji Shi
Chapter 2 SiC Cage Like Based Materials 23
Patrice Mélinon
Chapter 3 Metastable Solvent Epitaxy of SiC,
the Other Diamond Synthetics 53
Shigeto R. Nishitani, Kensuke Togase,
Yosuke Yamamoto, Hiroyasu Fujiwara and
Tadaaki Kaneko
Chapter 4 The Formation of Silicon Carbide
in the SiC Layers (x = 0.03–1.4)
x
Formed by Multiple Implantation of C Ions in Si 69
Kair Kh. Nussupov and Nurzhan B. Beisenkhanov
Chapter 5 SiC as Base of Composite
Materials for Thermal Management 115
J.M. Molina
Chapter 6 Bulk Growth and Characterization of SiC Single Crystal 141
Lina Ning and Xiaobo Hu
Chapter 7 SiC, from Amorphous to Nanosized Materials,
the Exemple of SiC Fibres Issued of Polymer Precursors 161
Philippe Colomban
Chapter 8 Micropipe Reactions in Bulk SiC Growth 187
M. Yu. Gutkin, T. S. Argunova,
V. G. Kohn, A. G. Sheinerman and J. H. Je
VI Contents
Chapter 9 Thermal Oxidation of Silicon Carbide (SiC) –
Experimentally Observed Facts 207
Sanjeev Kumar Gupta and Jamil Akhtar
Chapter 10 Creation of Ordered Layers on Semiconductor Surfaces:
An ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Study of the
SiC(001)-3×2 and SiC(100)-c(2×2) Surfaces 231
Yanli Zhang and Mark E. Tuckerman
Chapter 11 Optical Properties and Applications
of Silicon Carbide in Astrophysics 257
Karly M. Pitman, Angela K. Speck,
Anne M. Hofmeister and Adrian B. Corman
Chapter 12 Introducing Ohmic Contacts into
Silicon Carbide Technology 283
Zhongchang Wang, Susumu Tsukimoto,
Mitsuhiro Saito and Yuichi Ikuhara
Chapter 13 SiC-Based Composites Sintered
with High Pressure Method 309
Piotr Klimczyk
Part 2 Silicon Carbide:
Electronic Devices and Applications 335
Chapter 14 SiC Devices on Different Polytypes:
Prospects and Challenges 337
Moumita Mukherjee
Chapter 15 Recent Developments on Silicon Carbide
Thin Films for Piezoresistive Sensors Applications 369
Mariana Amorim Fraga, Rodrigo Sávio Pessoa,
Homero Santiago Maciel and Marcos Massi
Chapter 16 Opto-Electronic Study of SiC Polytypes: Simulation
with Semi-Empirical Tight-Binding Approach 389
Amel Laref and Slimane Laref
Chapter 17 Dielectrics for High Temperature
SiC Device Insulation: Review of
New Polymeric and Ceramic Materials 409
Sombel Diaham, Marie-Laure Locatelli and
Zarel Valdez-Nava
Chapter 18 Application of Silicon Carbide in
Abrasive Water Jet Machining 431
Ahsan Ali Khan and Mohammad Yeakub Ali
Contents VII
Chapter 19 Silicon Carbide Filled Polymer Composite for
Erosive Environment Application: A Comparative
Analysis of Experimental and FE Simulation Results 453
Sandhyarani Biswas, Amar Patnaik and Pradeep Kumar
Chapter 20 Comparative Assessment of
Si Schottky Diode Family in DC-DC Converter 469
Nor Zaihar Yahaya
Chapter 21 Compilation on Synthesis, Characterization and
Properties of Silicon and Boron Carbonitride Films 487
P. Hoffmann, N. Fainer, M. Kosinova, O. Baake and W. Ensinger
Preface
Silicon Carbide (SiC) and its polytypes have been a part of human civilization for a
long time; the technical interest of this hard and stable compound has been realized in
1885 and 1892 by Cowless and Acheson for grinding and cutting purpose, leading to its
manufacture on a large scale. The fundamental physical limitations of Si operation at
higher temperature and power are the strongest motivations for switching to wide
bandgap (WBG) semiconductors such as SiC for these applications. The high output
power density of WBG transistors allows the fabrication of smaller size devices with
the same output power. Higher impedance, due to the smaller size, allows easier and
lower loss matching in amplifiers. The operation at high voltage, due to its high
breakdown electric field, not only reduces the need for voltage conversion, but also
provides the potential to obtain high efficiency, which is a critical parameter for
amplifiers. The wide bandgap enables it to operate at elevated temperatures. These
attractive features in power amplifier enabled by the superior properties make these
devices promising candidates for microwave power applications. Especially military
systems such as electrically steered antennas (ESA) could benefit from more compact,
broadband and efficient power generation.
Another application area is robust front end electronics such as low noise amplifiers
(LNAs) and mixers. A higher value of saturation velocity in SiC will allow higher current
and hence higher power from the devices. Heat removal is a critical issue in microwave
power transistors. The thermal conductivity of SiC is substantially higher than that of
GaAs and Si. The large bandgap and high temperature stability of SiC and GaN also
makes them possible to operate devices at very high temperatures. At temperatures
above 300 0C, SiC has much lower intrinsic carrier concentrations than Si and GaAs. This
implies that devices designed for high temperatures and powers should be fabricated
from WBG semiconductors, to avoid effects of thermally generated carriers. When the
ambient temperature is high, the thermal management to cool down crucial hot sections
introduces additional overhead that can have a negative impact relative to the desired
benefits when considering the overall system performance.
The potential of using SiC in semiconductor electronics has been already recognized
half a century ago. Despite its well-known properties, it has taken a few decades to
overcome the exceptional technological difficulties of getting SiC material to reach
device quality and travel the road from basic research to commercialization.
X Preface
SiC exists in a large number of cubic (C), hexagonal (H) and rhombohedral (R)
polytype structures. It varies in the literature between 150 and 250 different ones. For
microwave and high temperature applications the 4H is the most suitable and popular
polytype. Its carrier mobility is higher than in the 6H-SiC polytype, which is also
commercially available. SiC as a material is thus most suited for applications in which
high-temperature, high-power, and high-frequency devices are needed. To that end,
this book is a good compendium of advances made since the early 1990s at numerous
reputable international institutions by top authorities in the field.
Sequence of chapters is arranged to cover a wide array of activities in a fairly coherent
and effective manner. In 21 chapters of the book, special emphasis has been placed on
the “materials” aspects and developments thereof. To that end, about 70% of the book
addresses the theory, crystal growth, defects, surface and interface properties,
characterization, and processing issues pertaining to SiC. The remaining 30% of the
book covers the electronic device aspects of this material. Overall, this book will be
valuable as a reference for SiC researchers for years to come.
This book prestigiously covers our current understanding of SiC as a semiconductor
material in electronics. Its physical properties make it more promising for high-
powered devices than silicon. The volume is devoted to the material and covers
methods of epitaxial and bulk growth. Identification and characterization of defects is
discussed in detail. The contributions help the reader to develop a deeper
understanding of defects by combining theoretical and experimental approaches.
Apart from applications in power electronics, sensors, and NEMS, SiC has recently
gained new interest as a substrate material for the manufacture of controlled
graphene. SiC and graphene research is oriented towards end markets and has high
impact on areas of rapidly growing interest like electric vehicles.
Dr. Moumita Mukherjee,
Scientist-B, Senior Asst. Professor
Centre for Millimeter-wave Semiconductor Devices and Systems (CMSDS),
Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics,
University of Calcutta,
India
