Wafer-Scale p‑Type SiC Single Crystals with High Crystalline Quality

Silicon carbide (SiC) single crystals are ideal platforms for fabrication of high-voltage, high-frequency, and high-temperature application devices, showing great potential applications in electric vehicles, photovoltaics, and rail transit. Among SiC-based devices, n-channel insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) show superior performances. However, their developments remain stagnant, predominantly ascribed to the lack of wafer-scale p-type SiC single crystals. Here, we report the breakthrough in the growth of 4-inch p-type 4H-SiC single crystals from high-temperature solutions with high crystalline quality and uniform doping. The average full width at half-maximum for the (0004) plane X-ray rocking curve is 19.4 arcsec and the resistivity deviation along the thickness direction is only 7.89%, outperforming those of the reported p-type SiC single crystals. The density of dislocation etching pits is 888.89 cm–2. The size of the dislocation etching pits is 1/10th of its counterpart grown by the physical vapor transport technique. The quality improvement is due to the removal of voids induced by gas bubbles, alongside the improvement of other growth parameters. The growth of wafer-scale p-type SiC opens a gate to the fabrication of n-channel SiC-based devices like n-IGBTs.