Susceptor designs for silicon carbide thin films

Abstract

A susceptor is disclosed for minimizing or eliminating thermal gradients that affect a substrate wafer during epitaxial growth. The susceptor includes a first susceptor portion including a surface for receiving a semiconductor substrate wafer thereon, and a second susceptor portion facing the substrate receiving surface and spaced from the substrate-receiving surface. The spacing is sufficiently large to permit the flow of gases therebetween for epitaxial growth on a substrate on the surface, while small enough for the second susceptor portion to heat the exposed face of a substrate to substantially the same temperature as the first susceptor portion heats the face of a substrate that is in direct contact with the substrate-receiving surface.

Description

technical field [0001] This invention relates to semiconductor manufacturing processes, and more particularly to the design of improved susceptors for epitaxial growth on silicon carbide substrates. [0002] The invention relates to the fabrication of an epitaxial layer of semiconductor material on a silicon carbide substrate. Silicon carbide provides excellent physical and electronic properties for many semiconductor properties and devices. These properties include wide bandgap, high thermal conductivity, high saturation electron drift velocity, high electron mobility, superior mechanical strength, and radiation hardening. Background technique [0003] As is the case with other semiconductor materials such as silicon, one fundamental step in fabricating a large number of silicon carbide-based devices involves growing a thin, single-crystal layer of the semiconductor material on a silicon carbide substrate. The technique is called "epitaxy," and the term describes the grow...

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Problems solved by technology

This ultimately leads to non-uniform doping levels in the semiconductor material and shortens the lifetime of the pedestal

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