Heteroepitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on SOI for sensor applications

Typical industrial high temperature sensor applications are reviewed and a short overview of the different high temperature sensor technologies is giv en. The pros and cons are weighted. Silicon carbide on insulator (SiCOIN) t echnology comes out to be the most attractive, provided the state of develo pment can be brought up to the one of silicon and silicon on insulator (SOT ). Due to the lack of commercially available SIC on SOI wafers, a new SiC o n SOI technology has been developed. It is based on the precursor gas methy lsilane. The low temperature growth process is described and in-situ n-type doping, which is necessary for sensor applications, has been carried out s uccessfully over a wide range of concentrations without loosing the good cr ystal properties. Actually the full process is being transferred from a tes t reactor to a 4 inch machine. This should provide 3C-SiC on SOI wafers for commercial sensor applications. A demonstrator of combustion pressure sens or dedicated to pressure-based engine control is shown. Results of the pres sure sensor fitted in a motor-test setup are summarized. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.