SURFACE STUDIES ON SIC AS RELATED TO CONTACTS

We review the current status of surface studies on SiC as related to d evelopment of metal-semiconductor contacts, focusing on ten selected a spects of work through 1996. The ten areas include high resolution mic roscopy, XPS core-level binding energies versus temperature, surface g raphitization, plasmon-loss features, work function and electron affin ity, sputtering, etching, surface preparation and cleaning, surface st ates, and the index of interface behavior for SiC. Special considerati on is given to the Ni/SiC ohmic contact system, and we discuss possibl e future directions in SiC contact surface research.