Crystallographic plane-orientation dependent atomic force microscopy-based local oxidation of silicon carbide

<p>Abstract</p> <p>The effect of crystalline plane orientations of Silicon carbide (SiC) (a-, m-, and c-planes) on the local oxidation on 4H-SiC using atomic force microscopy (AFM) was investigated. It has been found that the AFM-based local oxidation (AFM-LO) rate on SiC is closel...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kim Sang-Cheol, Lee Ji-Hoon, Ahn Jung-Joon, Jo Yeong-Deuk, Koo Sang-Mo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2011-01-01
Series:Nanoscale Research Letters
Online Access:http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/235
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>The effect of crystalline plane orientations of Silicon carbide (SiC) (a-, m-, and c-planes) on the local oxidation on 4H-SiC using atomic force microscopy (AFM) was investigated. It has been found that the AFM-based local oxidation (AFM-LO) rate on SiC is closely correlated to the atomic planar density values of different crystalline planes (a-plane, 7.45 cm<sup>-2</sup>; c-plane, 12.17 cm<sup>-2</sup>; and m-plane, 6.44 cm<sup>-2</sup>). Specifically, at room temperature and under about 40% humidity with a scan speed of 0.5 &#956;m/s, the height of oxides on a- and m-planes 4H-SiC is 6.5 and 13 nm, respectively, whereas the height of oxides on the c-plane increased up to 30 nm. In addition, the results of AFM-LO with thermally grown oxides on the different plane orientations in SiC are compared.</p>
ISSN:1931-7573
1556-276X