Advances in 3x150 mm Hot-Wall and 6x150 mm Warm-Wall SiC Epitaxy for 10kV-Class Power Devices

Initial results from a custom, 3x150 mm horizontal hot-wall, SiC Vapor-Phase epitaxial growth reactor (VPE), with full planetary motion are reported. Epitaxial layer properties are compared with those grown on previously reported 1x150 mm hot-wall and 6x150 mm warm-wall reactors for epitaxial wafers of up to 100 microns thickness. The median intra-wafer thickness and doping uniformity (σ/mean) for the 3x150 mm reactor are 0.9% and 6.10%, respectively. The intra-run thickness and doping variation are 0.18% and 1.01%. The projected 5x5 mm useable area for layers of nominal 5 to 30 μm thickness for all the reactor configurations (as measured by a Candela CS2 optical surface analyzer) are approximately 92%, corresponding to an effective defect density of about 0.35 cm-2. Useable areas as high as 86.5% and 1-2 nm rms roughness have been observed for layers of over 100 μm thickness. Initial morphological results using a higher resolution, LaserTec SICA6X confocal differential interference contrast (CDIC) microscope, are also presented.