Quality improvement of single crystal 4H SiC grown with a purified β-SiC powder source

In the processing of single crystal SiC using the PVT method, defects such as micropipes and dislocations occur due to various reasons, including growth rate, temperature gradient, seed quality, pressure change and the SiC source powder. Among these factors, the SiC source powder was investigated to reduce defects in single crystal SiC. β-SiC powder was used to reduce the growth temperature and change basic properties of the particle, including microstructure, particle size and chemical composition, through the purification process. The structure of the purified β-SiC particle was changed into a spherical structure and its particle size expanded. Chemical analysis revealed reduced free carbon, oxide phases such as silica (SiO₂), silicon oxycarbide and metallic impurities. Purified β-SiC powder showed increased particle size of 37 μm and showed improved purity. With this, we grew single crystal 4H SiC and compared the micropipe and dislocation density to that of single crystal 4H SiC grown with non-purified β-SiC powder. The experimental results confirmed that the 4H SiC wafer grown by purified β-SiC powder exhibited improved quality.