Modelling wafer bow in silicon–polycrystalline CVD diamond substrates for GaN-based devices

Composite silicon–polycrystalline chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond wafers are potential substrates for GaN-based devices for use in harsh environments due to their high thermal conductivity and chemical stability. When cooled from a typical diamond deposition temperature of approximately 800 to 25 °C wafer bowing arises from a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion of silicon and polycrystalline diamond. In this paper 100 mm diameter silicon–polycrystalline diamond wafers have been modelled using ANSYS finite element software to investigate their bowing behaviour as a function of temperature and geometry. The maximum bow of a wafer occurred where the thicknesses of both the silicon and polycrystalline diamond layers was almost identical; this has been confirmed using analytical methods. Strategies are discussed for reducing wafer bow.