Vapour-liquid-solid mechanism for the growth of SiC homoepitaxial layers by VPE

In order to reach fast growth regime, we have investigated the SiC homoepit axial growth on off-axis 4H-SiC substrates from a vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism in a vertical cold wall CVD reactor. The experiments involved si lane and propane diluted in hydrogen as feeding vapour phase and melted sil icon as "liquid catalyst". Growth rates up to 25 mum/h at 1500 degreesC and 35 mum/h at 1600 degreesC with a bunched step-terrace structure are demons trated in such a system. The formation and stability of the VLS equilibrium is discussed with respect to the experimental parameters and a first appro ach of the mechanism is proposed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.