Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kaili Yin, Liping Shi, Xiaoliang Ma, Yesheng Zhong, Mingwei Li, Xiaodong He
Summary: This study evaluates the accuracy of Tersoff, MEAM, and GW potentials in describing the thermal transport of SiC, and investigates the thermal conductivity of 3C/4H-SiC nanowires using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the thermal conductivity of the nanowires increases and then saturates as the length varies, exhibiting a size effect. Additionally, there is a minimum thermal conductivity for a certain period length of the nanowires, and the thermal conductivity weakly depends on the gradient period lengths and the ratio of 3C/4H. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity decreases continuously from compressive strain to tensile strain, suggesting potential applications in advanced thermoelectric devices.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Amel Lachichi, Philip Mawby
Summary: This article investigates the bipolar degradation issue of 4H-SiC power MOSFET devices and presents simulation and experimental results showing an increase in voltage consistent with the experimental findings. Additionally, a novel method using electroluminescence to detect the presence of SFs within power devices is proposed.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Applied
Petr Vacek, Martin Frentrup, Lok Yi Lee, Fabien C. P. Massabuau, Menno J. Kappers, David J. Wallis, Roman Groeger, Rachel A. Oliver
Summary: The defect structure of zincblende GaN nucleation layers grown on 3C-SiC/Si (001) was investigated, which includes perfect dislocations, partial dislocations, and stacking faults. These defects, especially perfect and partial dislocations, help relieve the compressive lattice mismatch strain in GaN layers. The stacking faults in the layers are mainly bounded by 30 degrees Shockley partial dislocations and occasionally by Lomer-Cottrell partial dislocations, originating from the dissociation of perfect dislocations or direct nucleation of partial dislocations loops from the surface.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Massimo Zimbone, Andrey Sarikov, Corrado Bongiorno, Anna Marzegalli, Viviana Scuderi, Cristiano Calabretta, Leo Miglio, Francesco La Via
Summary: This work investigated the structure of two major extended defects affecting the properties of cubic silicon carbide by STEM measurements and molecular dynamic simulations. It was found that stacking faults and inverted domain boundaries in 3C-SiC are strictly correlated, with threading partial dislocations having unconventional line directions. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed stable dislocation structures along [110] and [112] directions, while [123] and [134] directions resulted in zig-zag dislocation lines.
Article
Physics, Applied
Fan Li, Arne Benjamin Renz, Amador Perez-Tomas, Vishal Shah, Peter Gammon, Francesco La Via, Mike Jennings, Phil Mawby
Summary: The study successfully fabricated and characterized a vertical PiN diode using bulk 3C-SiC material, which demonstrated low forward voltage, high on-off ratio, and good ideality factor.
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Jiaxu Gao, Tao Ju, Liguo Zhang, Xiang Kan, Rongkun Ji, Wenbo Tang, Dan Fang, Zhipeng Wei, Xuan Zhang, Baoshun Zhang, Zhongming Zeng
Summary: In this work, dislocation etch pits by molten KOH etching in 4H-SiC epilayers doped by ion implantation were characterized. The sizes and shapes of dislocation etch pits were studied in the range of implanted nitrogen concentration from 2 x 1019 cm-3 to 4 x 1019 cm-3 and implanted aluminum concentration from 1 x 1018 cm-3 to 1 x 1019 cm-3. It was found that the etch rates at dislocations followed a trend of n+ < n- < p- ≈ p+ while the threading dislocation etch pits showed the anisotropic etching characteristic of hexagonal shape in all samples. The characteristics of dislocation etch pits in n+-4H-SiC samples were analyzed based on the effect of preferential N occupation at dislocations.
MATERIALS SCIENCE IN SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Zhiming Li, Limin Zhang, Weilin Jiang, Chenglong Pan, Xuan Meng, Liang Chen
Summary: This study investigates the hardness of nanocrystalline silicon carbide with different grain sizes and compares it with amorphous and single-crystal SiC. It also explores the effects of irradiation on the hardness of different SiC structures. The results show that irradiation can increase or decrease the hardness of SiC, depending on the temperature and structure. The study highlights the importance of understanding the behavior of SiC under different conditions.
CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Physics, Applied
J. Nishio, C. Ota, R. Iijima
Summary: During epitaxial growth of SiC, it is possible for Shockley partial dislocation pairs to convert from unexpandable to expandable combinations. Research has shown that certain unexpandable dislocations in the substrate can transform into expandable dislocations after growth, potentially impacting the reliability of SiC power devices.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hejing Wang, Jinying Yu, Guojie Hu, Yan Peng, Xuejian Xie, Xiaobo Hu, Xiufang Chen, Xiangang Xu
Summary: The etching behavior of micropipes in 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC wafers was studied, and a new Raman peak associated with micropipes was observed. Distinguishing micropipes from threading screw dislocations (TSDs) was determined using various microscopy techniques under preferable etching conditions. Micropipe etching pits were classified into two types based on their morphology and formation mechanism.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Shuai Liu, Xian Luo, Bin Huang, Yanqing Yang
Summary: This study investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of W-core SiC filament and its growth behavior in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The results show that the growth of 3C-SiC grains is limited by surface reactions and the increase in supersaturation leads to morphological changes and improved mechanical properties. The study highlights the importance of gas-phase supersaturation in the preparation of metal matrix composites.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Bing Yang, Junyi Wang, Zhihao Yang, Zhiduo Xin, Nana Zhang, Hongyu Zheng, Xiaohu Wu
Summary: The interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) and in-plane thermal conductivity (TC) of AlN/Si-doped graphene/3C-SiC heterostructures are systematically studied by molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that silicon doping can reduce the ITR by as much as 31.72% and enhance the phonon transmission at interfaces. In addition, the in-plane TC is reduced by 11.24% when the Si-doped concentration is 8%.
MATERIALS TODAY PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
H. S. Sen, N. Daghbouj, B. S. Li, A. T. AlMotasem, F. F. Ge, L. Zhang, M. Callisti, T. Polcar
Summary: The study examined the microstructure evolution of 6H-SiC under sequential iron and helium ion irradiation, followed by annealing. Amorphization occurred after irradiation, but epitaxial recrystallization and the formation of defected polycrystalline 6H-SiC were observed during annealing. The interaction between stacking faults and microstructural defects was investigated, highlighting the complex interplay between mechanical and electronic factors.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Deyuan Li, Hui Li, Bingsheng Li
Summary: Stacking faults play a crucial role in enhancing the radiation resistance of SiC. We have introduced a novel method to create stacking faults through the recrystallization of amorphous SiC formed by Si implantation at room temperature. The density and length of stacking faults were examined using transmission electron microscopy. The recombination of defects was found to be dependent on the orientation of stacking faults, with reduced defect density observed when the habit plane of the stacking faults was perpendicular to the irradiation surface.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY-JMR&T
(2022)
Article
Physics, Applied
Sami A. El Hageali, Harvey Guthrey, Steven Johnston, Andrew Norman, Jake Soto, Bruce Odekirk, Robert E. Stahlbush, Nadeemullah A. Mahadik, Brian P. Gorman, Mowafak Al-Jassim
Summary: This study investigates the nature, origin, behavior, and impact of trapezoidal defects in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers. Various imaging and microscopy techniques were used to identify the stacking faults and determine their origin. The defects were found to impact the carrier recombination and electrical performance of SiC devices.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jiayan Li, Fan Zhang, Ping He, Bo Wang, Yi Tan
Summary: SiC whiskers were prepared by CVD using graphite powder mixed with resin powder and silicon powder as raw materials. The density and number of stacking faults inside the SiC whiskers can be controlled by changing the proportion of nitrogen atmosphere during the preparation, which affects the wave absorption properties. Whiskers prepared in a nitrogen-free atmosphere with a large number of stacking faults have better electromagnetic wave absorption performance.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY-JMR&T
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Francesco La Via, Massimo Zimbone, Corrado Bongiorno, Antonino La Magna, Giuseppe Fisicaro, Ioannis Deretzis, Viviana Scuderi, Cristiano Calabretta, Filippo Giannazzo, Marcin Zielinski, Ruggero Anzalone, Marco Mauceri, Danilo Crippa, Emilio Scalise, Anna Marzegalli, Andrey Sarikov, Leo Miglio, Valdas Jokubavicius, Mikael Syvajarvi, Rositsa Yakimova, Philipp Schuh, Michael Scholer, Manuel Kollmuss, Peter Wellmann
Summary: This review paper presents several new approaches for 3C-SiC growth, highlighting the challenges in obtaining devices with good electrical characteristics and the methods used to overcome these challenges. The new understanding of material defects and their interactions with growth parameters will be crucial in achieving the goal of obtaining a material with low defects and low stress for the realization of devices with extremely interesting characteristics.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Sergio Sapienza, Matteo Ferri, Luca Belsito, Diego Marini, Marcin Zielinski, Francesco La Via, Alberto Roncaglia
Summary: 3C-SiC is an emerging material for MEMS systems due to its outstanding mechanical properties. This study reports the complete characterization of Young's modulus and residual stress of monocrystalline 3C-SiC layers with different doping types grown on and oriented silicon substrates. The results show the potential for manufacturing highly sensitive strain sensors using this material.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mohammad Beygi, John T. Bentley, Christopher L. Frewin, Cary A. Kuliasha, Arash Takshi, Evans K. Bernardin, Francesco La Via, Jack Judy, Stephen E. Saddow
Summary: The study presents the fabrication and initial electrochemical characterization of a nearly monolithic, Michigan-style 3C-SiC microelectrode array probe, showcasing the single-crystalline cubic silicon carbide's biocompatibility for long-term stability in neural interfaces. The probe, grown on an SOI wafer, features p-type and n-type 3C-SiC layers for conductive traces and electrode sites, with substrate isolation provided by diodes and surface insulation by amorphous silicon carbide. The integration of device components in this all-SiC neural probe promises neurocompatibility and addresses long-term reliability concerns in chronic implantation.
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
(2021)
Review
Physics, Nuclear
Francesco Cappuzzello, Clementina Agodi, Luciano Calabretta, Daniela Calvo, Diana Carbone, Manuela Cavallaro, Maria Colonna, Paolo Finocchiaro, Felice Iazzi, Roberto Linares, Jose R. B. Oliveira, Luciano Pandola, Elena Santopinto, Domenico Torresi, Salvatore Tudisco, Luis Acosta, Carmen Altana, Paulina Amador-Valenzuela, Luis Humberto Avanzi, Jessica Bellone, Danilo Bonanno, Ismail Boztosun, Sandro Brasolin, Giuseppe A. Brischetto, Oscar Brunasso, Salvatore Calabrese, Luigi Campajola, Vittoria Capirossi, Efrain R. Chavez Lomeli, Irene Ciraldo, Vitor Angelo Paulino de Aguiar, Franck Delaunay, Carlo Ferraresi, Maria Fisichella, Elisa Gandolfo, Marcilei Aparecida Guazzelli, Francesco La Via, Daniel J. Marin Lambarri, Horst Lenske, Jesus Lubian, Nilberto H. Medina, Paolo Mereu, Mauricio Moralles, Annamaria Muoio, Horia Petrascu, Federico Pinna, Diego Sartirana, Onoufrios Sgouros, Selcuk O. Solakci, Vasilis Soukeras, Alessandro Spatafora, Antonio D. Russo, Aydin Yildirim
Summary: The NUMEN project proposes an innovative technique to access nuclear matrix elements through heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange reactions, aiming to study the lifetime of double beta decay. Despite being triggered by different types of interactions, similarities in many-body wave functions and transition operators exist between neutrinoless double beta decay and DCE reactions. The upgrade of INFN-LNS facilities, connected to the POTLNSa project, is essential for enabling measurements of DCE cross-section under extremely high beam intensities as required by the NUMEN project.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS A
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Fan Li, Fabrizio Roccaforte, Giuseppe Greco, Patrick Fiorenza, Francesco La Via, Amador Perez-Tomas, Jonathan Edward Evans, Craig Arthur Fisher, Finn Alec Monaghan, Philip Andrew Mawby, Mike Jennings
Summary: Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors like 3C-SiC offer superior electrical energy efficiencies and power densities, but face technological impediments that hinder their widespread adoption. The main obstacle is the presence of defects in 3C-SiC, limiting selective doping realization under low temperature processing conditions.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Alessandro Meli, Annamaria Muoio, Riccardo Reitano, Enrico Sangregorio, Lucia Calcagno, Antonio Trotta, Miriam Parisi, Laura Meda, Francesco La Via
Summary: The aim of this study was to characterize a thick 4H SiC epitaxial layer and compare the results before and after a thermal oxidation process. The oxidation process was found to improve the carrier lifetime and diffusion length of the epitaxial layer.
Article
Physics, Applied
P. Fiorenza, L. Maiolo, G. Fortunato, M. Zielinski, F. La Via, F. Giannazzo, F. Roccaforte
Summary: The interfacial electrical properties and oxide field strength of deposited oxide SiO2 on 3C-SiC can be improved by post-oxide deposition annealing. The density of electrically active stacking faults in 3C-SiC is reduced after appropriate annealing. These results pave the way for an ideal SiO2/3C-SiC system for power device applications.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Crystallography
Gaetano Calogero, Ioannis Deretzis, Giuseppe Fisicaro, Manuel Kollmuss, Francesco La Via, Salvatore F. Lombardo, Michael Schoeler, Peter J. Wellmann, Antonino La Magna
Summary: Multiscale approaches play an important role in materials processing simulation, offering cost reduction and performance enhancement. By integrating physical-chemical simulations and trained black-box techniques through digital twin modules, the real processes in development and production can be effectively complemented. This paper proposes a general paradigm for industrially driven computational modeling of materials using a multiscale methodology, which is demonstrated through two processing examples.
Article
Crystallography
Manuel Kollmuss, Francesco La Via, Peter J. Wellmann
Summary: A systematic study was conducted to determine the important growth parameters and their effects on the surface morphology and defect density of sublimation grown (001) cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC). Close space physical vapor transport (CS-PVT) growth was performed on 3C-SiC and 4 degrees off oriented homoepitaxial chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown seeding layers. Different growth parameters, such as temperature, pressure, and N-2 flux, were varied while keeping the other parameters constant. The sample characterization was done using Raman spectroscopy, potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching, optical microscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that step-flow-controlled growth was observed on all samples with reduced stacking fault density compared to the seeding layers. Increased temperature and pressure led to roughening of the growth surface due to step bunching, while the effect on stacking fault density was minimal. Increased nitrogen doping decreased the stacking fault density but increased the length of remaining stacking faults. Nitrogen had a macroscopic effect on the surface morphology rather than on a microscopic scale.
CRYSTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Viviana Scuderi, Marcin Zielinski, Francesco La Via
Summary: In this study, micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the effect of different doping on the stress distribution in silicon substrates and 3C-SiC films. The results showed that the stress in silicon is always compressive, while in 3C-SiC it is always tensile. The type of stress in the remaining 6 mu m of the film varies with doping.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Francesco La Via, Daniel Alquier, Filippo Giannazzo, Tsunenobu Kimoto, Philip Neudeck, Haiyan Ou, Alberto Roncaglia, Stephen E. E. Saddow, Salvatore Tudisco
Summary: In recent years, SiC has seen new applications proposed in various fields. This review discusses the development status, main challenges, and future prospects of several emerging SiC applications. The paper extensively reviews the use of SiC in high temperature space applications, high temperature CMOS, high radiation hard detectors, new optical devices, high frequency MEMS, devices with integrated 2D materials, and biosensors. The development of these applications, particularly in the 4H-SiC ones, has been facilitated by advancements in SiC technology and improvements in material quality and price. However, further development in these fields requires the development of new processes and improvement in material properties. In the case of 3C-SiC applications, despite the performance of the devices and their potential market, the lack of material and specific processes development, as well as the limited availability of SiC foundries, hamper further progress.
Article
Physics, Applied
M. Vivona, P. Fiorenza, V. Scuderi, F. La Via, F. Giannazzo, F. Roccaforte
Summary: The impact of stacking faults (SFs) on the characteristics of 4H-SiC Schottky diodes was investigated under both forward and reverse bias. Under forward bias, SFs had no significant effect on the ideality factor and barrier height, but under reverse bias, an anomalous increase in leakage current was observed. The leakage current behavior can be explained by a space-charge limited current model, indicating the presence of trapping states in 4H-SiC. The results provide insights into unexpected failures in 4H-SiC Schottky diodes.
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Carmen Altana, Lucia Calcagno, Caterina Ciampi, Francesco La Via, Gaetano Lanzalone, Annamaria Muoio, Gabriele Pasquali, Domenico Pellegrino, Sebastiana Puglia, Giuseppe Rapisarda, Salvatore Tudisco
Summary: The radiation damage studies of a new large area p-n junction silicon carbide device developed by the SiCILIA collaboration are discussed in this work. The results show that the new devices exhibit excellent performance in terms of stability, linearity, defect distribution, charge collection efficiency, energy resolution, leakage current, etc., and have a radiation resistance more than two orders of magnitude higher than silicon devices. The application of the new construction technology to silicon carbide material has enabled the creation of robust devices with excellent performance.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Emanuela Schiliro, Patrick Fiorenza, Raffaella Lo Nigro, Bruno Galizia, Giuseppe Greco, Salvatore Di Franco, Corrado Bongiorno, Francesco La Via, Filippo Giannazzo, Fabrizio Roccaforte
Summary: Metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with Al2O3 as a gate insulator were fabricated on cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) using both thermal and plasma-enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). The deposited Al2O3/SiO2 stacks showed lower negative shifts of the flat band voltage VFB compared with the conventional single SiO2 layer. The plasma-enhanced ALD approach produced Al2O3 layers with better insulating behavior in terms of leakage current breakdown distribution.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
G. M. Vanacore, D. Chrastina, E. Scalise, L. Barbisan, A. Ballabio, M. Mauceri, F. La Via, G. Capitani, D. Crippa, A. Marzegalli, R. Bergamaschini, L. Miglio
Summary: This paper addresses the unique nature of fully textured, high surface-to-volume 3C-SiC films, produced by intrinsic growth anisotropy. The structural interpretation of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy data is carried out for samples grown under suitable deposition conditions. Twinning along (111) planes is also found to be frequent in such materials.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
