Evaluation method and manufacturing method of SiC epitaxial wafer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11315839-B2
Application number	US-201816207396-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2018
Priority date	Dec 6, 2017
Publication date	Apr 26, 2022
Grant date	Apr 26, 2022

Abstract

An evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer includes: a first observation step of preparing a SiC epitaxial wafer having a high-concentration epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration of 1×1018 cm−3 or more, irradiating a surface of the high-concentration epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration of 1×1018 cm−3 or more with excitation light, and observing a surface irradiated with the excitation light via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of 430 nm or less.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer comprising:
a first observation step of
preparing a SiC epitaxial wafer having a high-concentration epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more,
irradiating a surface of the high-concentration epitaxial layer having the impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more with excitation light, and
observing via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of 430 nm or less the surface irradiated with the excitation light,

a second observation step of observing via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of more than 430 nm the surface irradiated with the excitation light; and
a determination step of comparing an observation result of the first observation step with an evaluation result of the second observation step.

2. The evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 1 ,
wherein the SiC epitaxial wafer includes a SiC substrate and the epitaxial layer stacked on the substrate, and
presence or absence and a position of a basal plane dislocation of the wafer are detected in the first observation step.

3. The evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a third observation step of performing surface observation on a surface which is the same as the surface irradiated with the excitation light and before being irradiated with the excitation light; and
a third determination step of comparing evaluation results of the first, second, and third observation steps,
wherein, in the third determination step, a defect which is observed only in the observation result of the first observation step is determined as a basal plane dislocation.

4. The evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 3 ,
wherein, in the third determination step, a defect which is observed in all the first to third observation steps is determined as a prismatic stacking fault, and a defect which is observed only in the observation results of the first and second observation steps is determined as a basal plane stacking fault.

5. The evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 1 ,
wherein a observed defect observed as a basal plane dislocation appears dark compared to the other regions of the surface.

6. The evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 1 ,
wherein, among defects which are observed in the first observation step, a defect which has an aspect ratio larger than 1 and has a major axis with an inclination angle of 45° or less with respect to a <11-20> direction is discriminated as a basal plane dislocation, and
the aspect ratio is a value obtained by dividing a length of the major axis of the defect by a length of a minor axis of the defect.

7. An evaluation method of a SiC epitaxial wafer comprising:
a first observation step of
preparing a SiC epitaxial wafer having a high-concentration epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more,
irradiating a surface of the high-concentration epitaxial layer having the impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more with excitation light, and
observing via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of 430 nm or less the surface irradiated with the excitation light,

a third observation step of performing surface observation on a surface which is the same as the surface irradiated with the excitation light and before being irradiated with the excitation light; and
a determination step of comparing an observation result of the first observation step with an evaluation result of the third observation step.

8. A manufacturing method of a SiC epitaxial wafer comprising steps of:
stacking a high-concentration epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more on one surface of a SiC substrate;
irradiating a surface of the high-concentration epitaxial layer having the impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more with excitation light,
observing via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of 430 nm or less the surface irradiated with the excitation light, wherein the observing step is referred to as a first observation step,
observing via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of more than 430 nm the surface irradiated with the excitation light, wherein the observing step is referred to as a second observation step: and
comparing an observation result of the first observation step with an evaluation result of the second observation step to perform a determination; and
stacking a drift layer on the high-concentration epitaxial layer.

9. The manufacturing method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a step of stacking a buffer layer having a lower impurity concentration than that of the high-concentration epitaxial layer between the SiC substrate and the high-concentration epitaxial layer.

10. The manufacturing method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a step of determining whether or not the obtained result of the first observation step satisfies an acceptance criterion, after the step of evaluating the high-concentration epitaxial layer,
wherein, in the step of stacking the drift layer, the drift layer is stacked on the high-concentration epitaxial layer which satisfies the acceptance criterion.

11. The manufacturing method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 8 ,
wherein an observed defect observed as a basal plane dislocation appears dark compared to the other regions of the surface.

12. A manufacturing method of a SiC epitaxial wafer comprising steps of:
stacking a high-concentration epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more on one surface of a SiC substrate;
irradiating a surface of the high-concentration epitaxial layer having the impurity concentration of 1×10 18 cm −3 or more with excitation light,
observing via a band-pass filter having a wavelength band of 430 nm or less the surface irradiated with the excitation light, wherein the observing step is referred to as a first observation,
performing surface observation on a surface which is the same as the surface irradiated with the excitation light and before being irradiated with the excitation light, wherein the step is referred to as a third observation; and
comparing an observation result of the first observation step with an evaluation result of the third observation step to perform a determination; and
stacking a drift layer on the high-concentration epitaxial layer.

13. The manufacturing method of a SiC epitaxial wafer according to claim 12 , further comprising a step of determining whether or not the obtained result of the first observation step satisfies an acceptance criterion, and
wherein, in the step of stacking the drift layer, the drift layer is stacked on the high-concentration epitaxial layer which satisfies the acceptance criterion.

Assignees

• Showa Denko Kk

Inventors

• Nishihara Yoshitaka
• Kamei Koji

Classifications

• H10P14/3408

  Silicon carbide · CPC title

• H10P14/2904

  Silicon carbide · CPC title

• H10P74/203 Primary

  Structural properties, e.g. testing or measuring thicknesses, line widths, warpage, bond strengths or physical defects · CPC title

• G01N21/9501 Primary

  Semiconductor wafers (manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20) · CPC title

• G01N2021/8461

  Investigating impurities in semiconductor, e.g. Silicon · CPC title