SiC Materials and Devices

Book excerpt: Silicon carbide is known to have been investigated since 1907 when Captain H J Round demonstrated yellow and blue emission by applying bias between a metal needle and an SiC crystal. The potential of using SiC in semiconductor electronics was already recognized half a century ago. Despite its well-known properties, it has taken a few decades to overcome the exceptional technological difficulties of getting silicon carbide material to reach device quality and travel the road from basic research to commercialization. This second of two volumes reviews four important additional areas: the growth of SiC substrates; the deep defects in different SiC polytypes, which after many years of research still define the properties of bulk SiC and the performance and reliability of SiC devices; recent work on SiC JFETs; and the complex and controversial issues important for bipolar devices. Recognized leaders in the field, the contributors to this volume provide up-to-date reviews of further state-of-the-art areas in SiC technology and materials and device research.