IP Library Granted Patent US 10,985,079
Granted Patent B2
US 10,985,079 · App. 16/672,650 · Granted Apr 20, 2021

Method of manufacturing SiC epitaxial wafer

Inventor: Yoshitaka Nishihara (Chichibu, JP)
Assignee: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
H01L22/20H01L21/02529H01L21/02634
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,985,079
App. No.
16/672,650
Granted
Apr 20, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention provides a method of manufacturing a SiC epitaxial wafer in which stacking faults are less likely to occur when a current is passed in a forward direction. The method of manufacturing the SiC epitaxial wafer includes a measurement step for measuring a basal plane dislocation density, a layer structure determining process for determining the layer structure of the epitaxial layer, and an epitaxial growth step for growing the epitaxial layers. And in the layer structure determination step, in the case of (i) when the basal plane dislocation density is lower than a predetermined value, the epitaxial layer includes a conversion layer and a drift layer from the SiC substrate side; and in the case of (ii) when the density is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the epitaxial layer includes a conversion layer, a recombination layer, and a drift layer from the SiC substrate side.

Claims (24)

1. A method of manufacturing a SiC epitaxial wafer, comprising:

a measurement step of measuring a basal plane dislocation density of a first surface of a SiC substrate;

a layer structure determination step of determining a layer structure of an epitaxial layer grown on the first surface of the SiC substrate based on a measurement result of the measurement step;

an epitaxial growth step of growing the epitaxial layer on the first surface of the SiC substrate based on the result of the layer structure determination step,

wherein in the layer structure determination step,

(i) when the basal plane dislocation density is lower than a predetermined value, the epitaxial layer comprises, from the SiC substrate side,

a conversion layer; and

a drift layer, and

(ii) when the basal plane dislocation density is equal to or higher than the predetermined value,

the epitaxial layer comprises, from the SiC substrate side,

a conversion layer;

a recombination layer; and

a drift layer, and

wherein the conversion layer has a lower impurity concentration than the SiC substrate, and

the recombination layer has an impurity concentration equal to or higher than that of the conversion layer.

2. The method of manufacturing a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined value is 500/cm 2 .

3. The method of manufacturing a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a representative substrate determination step of determining a representative substrate before the measurement step,

wherein the representative substrate determination step is a step of determining at least one SiC substrate as a representative substrate among a plurality of SiC substrates cut out from the same SiC ingot,

the measurement step has a first step and a second step,

the first step is a step of measuring the basal plane dislocation density of the first surface of the representative substrate, and

the second step is a step of determining that a basal plane dislocation density of the plurality of SiC substrates is the same as the basal plane dislocation density of the representative substrate.

4. The method for producing a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 3 ,

wherein when a growth end position of the SiC ingot is set to 0, and a growth start position of the SiC ingot is set to 1, the representative substrate determination step is a step of determining at least one representative substrate from the SiC substrates cut out from a position within a range of 0.35 to 0.45.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Feb 14, 2024
From: RESONAC CORPORATION
To: RESONAC CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 066599/0037 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jun 23, 2023
From: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
To: RESONAC CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 064082/0513 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 4, 2019
From: NISHIHARA, YOSHITAKA
To: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
Reel/Frame 050902/0486 →