Heteroepitaxy of Wide Band Gap Semiconductors on Silicon Substrates
The wide band gap semiconductors SiC and GaN have shown great
potential for use in high-temperature, high-power and
high-frequency electronic devices as well as short-wavelength
optical devices. However, the lack of large-area and low-cost
substrates hindered their development seriously. Thus, the
heteroepitaxy of SiC and GaN on silicon substrates is highly
desirable for the Si-based electronic industry. In this study, we
investigated the epitaxy of 3C-SiC and hexagonal GaN on silicon
substrates and related devices. High quality 3C-SiC epilayers were
deposited with trimethylsilane and silane/propane precursors,
respectively. Inversion- mode n-channel 3C-SiC MOSFET devices with
high channel mobility have been successfully fabricated. For GaN
growth, AlGaN/GaN heterostructures were grown on 100 mm diameter
Si(111) substrates without cracking using a high-temperature AlN
buffer layer and a 3C-SiC buffer layer. In addition, the growth of
hexagonal GaN on Si(100) substrates was demonstrated for the first
time using a sputtered AlN buffer layer followed by a MOCVD grown
AlN buffer layer.
Jianwei Wan has been working for Dow Corning Corporation (Midland, Michigan) in the field of SiC epitaxy after receiving his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana) in 2002. He also holds a B.S. degree and a M.S. degree in Physics from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
