PASSIVE-OXIDATION KINETICS OF HIGH-PURITY SILICON-CARBIDE FROM 800-DEGREES TO 1100-DEGREES-C

Highly textured chemically vapor-deposited silicon carbide (CVD-SiC) t hick films were oxidized and compared to single-crystal SiC and single -crystal silicon, The oxidation rates of the (111) face of the cubic C VD-SiC were the same as those of the (0001) face of the single-crystal SiC. Similarly, the opposite faces of the two materials, ((111) over bar) and (<000(1)over bar>), also oxidized at nominally the same rates . The ((111) over bar) and (<000(1)over bar>) faces oxidized much fast er than their opposite (111)/(0001) faces, Ellipsometry measurements a nd kinetic results implied that differences existed between the oxides that grew on the opposite faces. A regression method was developed to analyze the oxide thickness versus time versus temperature behavior o f the specimens simultaneously. This technique was compared to typical methods for analyzing temperature-dependent processes and estimated t emperature-dependent parameters (e.g., activation energy) and their er rors more accurately.