silicon carbide chips
Epitaxial technology refers to the growth of a layer of high-quality single-crystal material on the surface of a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate.
This technique can be categorized into heterogeneous epitaxy and homogeneous epitaxy depending on the substrate and the material of the growth layer.
The growth of a gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial layer on a semi-insulating SiC substrate is known as heterogeneous epitaxy, while the growth of a SiC epitaxial layer on the surface of a conductive SiC substrate is known as homogeneous epitaxy.
The epitaxial layer, as a key part of the device design, is decisive for the performance of the chip and the device, and accounts for 23% of the total cost.
Currently, the main methods for SiC thin film epitaxy include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), and pulsed laser deposition and sublimation (PLD).
Each of these methods has its own characteristics, and the appropriate process method is selected based on the specific application requirements.
silicon carbide chips
Application of Silicon Carbide Epitaxy
Epitaxy is a very critical part of the whole industry.
Growing GaN epitaxial layers on semi-insulating SiC substrates can yield SiC-based GaN epitaxial wafers, a material that can further be used to fabricate high-performance GaN RF devices such as high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs).
And in the growth of SiC epitaxial layer on the conductive substrate, the SiC epitaxial wafer can be used for the manufacture of Schottky diodes, gold-oxygen half-field effect transistors (MOSFET), insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) and other power devices.
The quality of the epitaxial layer directly affects the performance of the device and plays a crucial role in the development of the industry.
