Local epitaxy and lateral epitaxial overgrowth of SiC

Selective epitaxial growth and lateral overgrowth of SiC using a graphite m ask is reported in this paper, Selective area SiC growth is accomplished us ing physical vapor transport (PVT) epitaxy. The growth was carried out on 4 H and 6H-SiC wafers on- and 8 degrees off-oriented from the basal plane in the < 11 (2) over bar0 > direction. A graphite mask, consisting of rows an d columns of uniformly spaced open circles of 75-mum in diameter was used f or the selective nucleation of SiC mesa structures. Using PVT epitaxy, sele ctive area hexagonal-shaped structures were successfully grown. There was e ssentially no direct growth of SiC on the graphite film observed. A lateral /vertical growth rate ratio of 6 was achieved. Optical and scanning microsc ope images show perfectly formed hexagonal islands, which are located over the open circular windows. The results suggest that the selective area epit axial growth of SiC is a promising technique for obtaining high quality, lo cally grown mesa structures for SiC device applications. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.