Epitaxial Layer Growth of p-type 4H-SiC(0001) by the CST Method and Electrical Properties of MESFET Devices with Epitaxially Grown Layers

A sublimation epitaxial method, referred to as the Closed Space Technique (CST) was adopted to produce thick SiC epitaxial layers for power device applications. In this study, we aimed to systematically investigate surface morphologies and electrical properties of SiC epitaxial layers grown with varying a SiC/Al ratio in a SiC source powder during the sublimation growth using the CST method. The surface morphology was dramatically changed with varying the SiC/Al ratio. When the SiC/Al ratio of 90/1 was used, the step bunching was not observed in this magnification and the ratio of SiC/Al is an optimized range to grow of p-type SiC epitaxial layer. It was confirmed that the acceptor concentration of epitaxial layer was continuously decreased with increasing the SiC/Al ratio. 4H-SiC MESFETs haying a micron-gate length were fabricated using a lithography process and their current-voltage performances were characterized. It was confirmed that the increase of the negative voltage applied on the gate reduced the drain current, showing normal operation of FET device.