SiC growth rockets with hydrogen chloride addition

Problems of long processing time in the standard growth process silicon carbide(SiC) that produces high-blocking-voltage devices can be solved by adding hydrogen chloride(HCL) into the cell. The long growth times increase the processing costs and hamper the commercial development of high-voltage SiC devices. Scientists at the University of South Florida and researchers in Italy have developed an improved epitaxial process that overcomes the growth-rate problem. The improvements include the increasing of silane flow and introducing HCL gas in the deposition chamber. It is stated that the HCL gas can avoid the homogeneous nucleation of silicon in the gas phase that occurs during the standard deposition process and can also significantly increase concentration of silane.