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Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II)
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Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II)

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 13452

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Sergey Kukushkin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Problems in Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
Interests: materials science and engineering solid state physics; phase transitions; physics semiconductors; thin films growth; growth of wide bandgap semiconductors (SiC, GaN, AlN, BN, et al.) and nanostructures; crystal growth; growth of nanowires
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In January 2021, the journal Materials published the first volume of a special thematic issue devoted to the properties of silicon carbide and its applications. This Special Issue was entitled “Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications" (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/special_issues/silicon_carbide).

This topic attracted the attention of specialists working both in the field of obtaining silicon carbide and in the field of studying its properties. The first volume includes seven articles devoted to both the properties of silicon carbide and the possibility of creating various electronic devices and sensors based on it. Modern life requires the creation of new types of LEDs, semiconductor lasers, high-carrier mobility transistors (HEMPT), gas control sensors and sensors, microwave devices, and optical switches. Recently, an urgent need has arisen both for LEDs emitting hard ultraviolet radiation and for ultraviolet radiation sensors. In this regard, an intensive search for materials is currently underway that can, if not completely, at least partially replace silicon. One such material is silicon carbide (SiC). Silicon carbide is a material with high thermal and radiation resistance. The high thermal conductivity of SiC greatly simplifies the problem of removing heat from devices. This property, combined with high permissible operating temperatures and high carrier saturation rates (high saturation currents of field-effect transistors) makes SiC devices very promising for use in power electronics.

Silicon carbide is also an irreplaceable material as a substrate for creating heterostructures based on wide-gap semiconductors such as gallium and aluminum nitrides. On heterostructures based on gallium nitride compounds grown on SiC substrates, it is possible to create transistors with high charge carrier mobility, high-power LEDs, and blue lasers.

For many years, the use of monocrystalline SiC in electronics was constrained by the high cost of SiC and the complexity of its preparation. Currently, this problem is being gradually resolved. However, researchers are looking for other ways to obtain SiC. One of these ways is the synthesis of epitaxial SiC layers on a silicon substrate. There is every reason to believe that in the future such structures will occupy a niche in micro and optoelectronics, since they combine the properties of one of the main materials of electronics (silicon), with the properties of such a wide-gap material as silicon carbide. Such materials are also much cheaper than SiC single crystals. Additionally, there is the possibility of utilizing SiC layers on large-diameter Si substrates.

The topic of this Special Issue covers a range of areas within the study of both fundamental and applied aspects of the mechanisms of nucleation and growth of crystals and thin films of silicon carbide, the formation of growth defects, and the mechanisms of charge carrier transport. Special attention will be paid to the growth of silicon carbide layers on silicon, since the combination of these two materials makes it possible to integrate silicon carbide and films of such wide-gap materials as GaN, AlN, and others grown on its surface with the main material of modern micro and optoelectronics—silicon. The particular relevance of the materials mentioned is due to the wide range of applications of semiconductor structures based on them in technology and industry.

Prof. Dr. Sergey Kukushkin
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • silicon carbide
  • crystal growth
  • silicon carbide on silicon
  • thin film growth
  • phase transition
  • wide bandgap semiconductors
  • nanostructures
  • growth of nanowires

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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11 pages, 2913 KiB  
Article
Growth Mechanism of Semipolar AlN Layers by HVPE on Hybrid SiC/Si(110) Substrates
by Alexander A. Koryakin, Sergey A. Kukushkin, Andrey V. Osipov, Shukrillo Sh. Sharofidinov and Mikhail P. Shcheglov
Materials 2022, 15(18), 6202; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15186202 - 6 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1691
Abstract
In this work, the growth mechanism of aluminum nitride (AlN) epitaxial films by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxial layers grown on silicon (110) substrates is investigated. The peculiarity of this study is that the SiC layers used for [...] Read more.
In this work, the growth mechanism of aluminum nitride (AlN) epitaxial films by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxial layers grown on silicon (110) substrates is investigated. The peculiarity of this study is that the SiC layers used for the growth of AlN films are synthesized by the method of coordinated substitution of atoms. In this growth method, a part of the silicon atoms in the silicon substrate is replaced with carbon atoms. As a result of atom substitution, the initially smooth Si(110) surface transforms into a SiC surface covered with octahedron-shaped structures having the SiC(111) and SiC(111¯) facets. The SiC(111)/(111¯) facets forming the angle of 35.3° with the original Si(110) surface act as “substrates” for further growth of semipolar AlN. The structure and morphology of AlN films are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and Raman spectroscopy. It is found that the AlN layers are formed by merged hexagonal microcrystals growing in two directions, and the following relation is approximately satisfied for both crystal orientations: AlN(101¯3)||Si(110). The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the X-ray rocking curve for the AlN(101¯3) diffraction peak averaged over the sample area is about 20 arcmin. A theoretical model explaining the presence of two orientations of AlN films on hybrid SiC/Si(110) substrates is proposed, and a method for controlling their orientation is presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II))
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13 pages, 6985 KiB  
Article
Dielectric Function and Magnetic Moment of Silicon Carbide Containing Silicon Vacancies
by Sergey A. Kukushkin and Andrey V. Osipov
Materials 2022, 15(13), 4653; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15134653 - 1 Jul 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1888
Abstract
In this work, silicon carbide layers containing silicon vacancies are grown by the Method of Coordinated Substitution of Atoms (MCSA). The main idea of this fundamentally new method is that silicon vacancies are first created in silicon, which is much simpler, and only [...] Read more.
In this work, silicon carbide layers containing silicon vacancies are grown by the Method of Coordinated Substitution of Atoms (MCSA). The main idea of this fundamentally new method is that silicon vacancies are first created in silicon, which is much simpler, and only then is silicon converted into silicon carbide by chemical reaction with carbon monoxide. The dielectric function of silicon carbide containing silicon vacancies, grown on both n- and p-type silicon substrates, is measured for the first time. The density functional method in the spin-polarized approximation is used to calculate the dielectric function of silicon carbide containing silicon vacancies. It is shown that the influence of the magnetic moment of vacancies on the dielectric function is decisive. Qualitative correspondence of the computational model to the obtained experimental data is demonstrated. It is discovered that silicon vacancies make silicon carbide much less transparent. It is shown that the imaginary part of the dielectric function is described as a sum of oscillatory peaks in the form of the Gaussian functions. Vacancies lead, as a rule, to one or two additional peaks. According to the amplitude and position of the additional peaks, it is possible to qualitatively estimate the concentration of vacancies and their charge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II))
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8 pages, 2958 KiB  
Article
Manufacturing of Complex Silicon–Carbon Structures: Exploring SixCy Materials
by Skyler Oglesby, Sergei A. Ivanov, Alejandra Londonõ-Calderon, Douglas Pete, Michael Thompson Pettes, Andrew Crandall Jones and Sakineh Chabi
Materials 2022, 15(10), 3475; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15103475 - 12 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3889
Abstract
This paper reports on the manufacturing of complex three-dimensional Si/C structures via a chemical vapor deposition method. The structure and properties of the grown materials were characterized using various techniques including scanning electron microscopy, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray [...] Read more.
This paper reports on the manufacturing of complex three-dimensional Si/C structures via a chemical vapor deposition method. The structure and properties of the grown materials were characterized using various techniques including scanning electron microscopy, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The spectroscopy results revealed that the grown materials were composed of micro/nanostructures with various compositions and dimensions. These included two-dimensional silicon carbide (SiC), cubic silicon, and various SiC polytypes. The coexistence of these phases at the nano-level and their interfaces can benefit several Si/C-based applications ranging from ceramics and structural applications to power electronics, aerospace, and high-temperature applications. With an average density of 7 mg/cm3, the grown materials can be considered ultralightweight, as they are three orders of magnitude lighter than bulk Si/C materials. This study aims to impact how ceramic materials are manufactured, which may lead to the design of new carbide materials or Si/C-based lightweight structures with additional functionalities and desired properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II))
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7 pages, 879 KiB  
Article
Problems with Evaluation of Micro-Pore Size in Silicon Carbide Using Synchrotron X-ray Phase Contrast Imaging
by Tatiana S. Argunova and Victor G. Kohn
Materials 2022, 15(3), 856; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15030856 - 23 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2166
Abstract
We report near- and far-field computer simulations of synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast images using a micropipe in a SiC crystal as a model system. Experimental images illustrate the theoretical results. The properties of nearly perfect single crystals of silicon carbide are strongly affected by [...] Read more.
We report near- and far-field computer simulations of synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast images using a micropipe in a SiC crystal as a model system. Experimental images illustrate the theoretical results. The properties of nearly perfect single crystals of silicon carbide are strongly affected by μm-sized pores even if their distribution in a crystal bulk is sparse. A non-destructive technique to reveal the pores is in-line phase-contrast imaging with synchrotron radiation. A quantitative approach to evaluating pore sizes is the use of computer simulations of phase-contrast images. It was found that near-field phase-contrast images are formed at very short distances behind a sample. We estimated these distances for tiny pores. The Fresnel zones did not provide any information on the pore size in the far-field, but a contrast value within the first Fresnel zone could be used for simulations. Finally, general problems in evaluating a micro-pore size via image analysis are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II))
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13 pages, 5965 KiB  
Article
Spin Polarization and Magnetic Moment in Silicon Carbide Grown by the Method of Coordinated Substitution of Atoms
by Sergey A. Kukushkin and Andrey V. Osipov
Materials 2021, 14(19), 5579; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195579 - 26 Sep 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2559
Abstract
In the present work, a new method for obtaining silicon carbide of the cubic polytype 3C-SiC with silicon vacancies in a stable state is proposed theoretically and implemented experimentally. The idea of the method is that the silicon vacancies are first created by [...] Read more.
In the present work, a new method for obtaining silicon carbide of the cubic polytype 3C-SiC with silicon vacancies in a stable state is proposed theoretically and implemented experimentally. The idea of the method is that the silicon vacancies are first created by high-temperature annealing in a silicon substrate Si(111) doped with boron B, and only then is this silicon converted into 3C-SiC(111), due to a chemical reaction with carbon monoxide CO. A part of the silicon vacancies that have bypassed “chemical selection” during this transformation get into the SiC. As the process of SiC synthesis proceeds at temperatures of ~1350 °C, thermal fluctuations in the SiC force the carbon atom C adjacent to the vacancy to jump to its place. In this case, an almost flat cluster of four C atoms and an additional void right under it are formed. This stable state of the vacancy, by analogy with NV centers in diamond, is designated as a C4V center. The C4V centers in the grown 3C-SiC were detected experimentally by Raman spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Calculations performed by methods of density-functional theory have revealed that the C4V centers have a magnetic moment equal to the Bohr magneton μB and lead to spin polarization in the SiC if the concentration of C4V centers is sufficiently high. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silicon Carbide: From Fundamentals to Applications (Volume II))
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