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Basal plane dislocations (BPDs) in 4H-SiC are the main reason for the degradation of bipolar devices. In the experiment, the distribution of 4-fold symmetry BPDs is observed in the etch pit density of the 4H-SiC wafer, which is inconsistent with the phenomenon of the distribution of 6-fold symmetry BPDs because of the hexagonal structure of 4H-SiC. To explain the distribution of 4-fold symmetry BPDs in the grown crystal, 3D modeling of BPDs in 4H-SiC crystals grown by the PVT method has been performed. The results show that the adoption of 4-degree off-axis seed crystals that are widely used in the industry caused the distribution of 4-fold symmetry BPDs. Moreover, the distribution of BPDs is 6-fold symmetry in on-axis grown 4H-SiC single crystals; with the increase of the off-angle, the distribution of BPDs gradually changes from 6-fold to 4-fold symmetry, and the maximum value of the BPD density is at the periphery. In the end, the strategy of growing 4H-SiC crystals with large-size seed crystals has been proposed to reduce the BPD density in the wafer and improve the quality of the substrate. The calculation results shows that the use of 220 mm seed crystals can reduce the BPD density by 15% compared with 200 mm seed crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) is a crucial technique for producing high-quality SiC crystals, with the quality of the crystal being significantly influenced by the temperature, flow, and carbon concentration in the solution. A global numerical simulation has been performed to investigate the effects of solution height and crystal rotation in SiC crystal growth. The simulation results indicate that as the solution height increases, there are two distinct flow patterns: single-vortex pattern and double-vortex pattern. Because of the change in the flow pattern, the flow field beneath the seed crystal and free surface will undergo a significant change. The varying effects of seed crystal rotation are also demonstrated under different solution height scenarios. Increasing the rotational speed of the seed crystal will enhance the stability of the solution flow field and crystal growth rate for the single-vortex pattern. Increasing the rotational speed or solution height appropriately is beneficial for enhancing the crystal growth rate in the double-vortex pattern. Excessively high rotational speeds or solution heights, however, will reduce the rate of crystal growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the generation and transformation of defects associated with subsurface damages (SSDs) in seed crystals during the physical vapor transport (PVT) growth of 4H-SiC crystals. SSDs in the 4H-SiC seed crystal were first revealed and labeled through photo-chemical etching. After 30 min of PVT growth on the 4H-SiC seed crystal, we found that ridge-like substances with a height ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 μm were formed in the region above the SSDs in the 4H-SiC seed crystal. Raman spectra analysis indicated that these ridge-like substances were 4H-SiC under tensile strain. We then continued the PVT growth to obtain a 4H-SiC boule and carried out a wafering process to obtain 4H-SiC single-crystal wafers. For the bottom wafer, above the 4H-SiC seed wafer, the full width at a half maximum (FWHM) of the rocking curves of the region above the SSDs of the seed wafer was higher than that in the other regions, indicating that the SSDs degrade the crystalline quality of 4H-SiC single crystal. The average value of the FWHM of the rocking curves of the top wafer became lower than that of the bottom wafer, indicating that the effect of SSDs gradually recovers. Molten-KOH etching indicated that SSDs in the 4H-SiC seed crystal give rise to the formation of low-angular grain boundaries (LAGBs) that consist of a wall of threading edge dislocations (TEDs) in 4H-SiC single crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 4H-SiC single crystal is a substrate material for high-frequency and high-voltage power devices. Dislocation density is a fundamental criterion for evaluating the quality of 4H-SiC single crystals. 4H-SiC single crystals grown by the physical vapor transport (PVT) method generally have high dislocation density. To investigate the effect of nitrogen doping on dislocation proliferation in SiC crystals, the thermal field of the ingot during PVT growth was calculated by COMSOL Multiphysics, and thermal stress was calculated by thermal elastic theory. Finally, the dislocation density of the crystal was calculated based on the Alexander–Haasen model for inhomogeneous nitrogen doping. By comparing the calculation and experimental results, we proposed a possible value of the effective stress to evaluate the effect of a nitrogen dopant on dislocation density, which helps calculate the dislocation density in the n-type SiC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]