Crystal silicon carbides

Single-crystal silicon carbide, 22 525 manufacture and processing of, 22 532 Single-crystal silicon substrates, 23 39-40 Single-crystal structure determination information from, 26 426 macromolecule, 26 425-426 small-molecule, 26 423—425 Single-electron transistors (SETs), 22 169, 171-172... 

The properties of silicon carbide (4—6) depend on purity, polytype, and method of formation. The measurements made on commercial, polycrystalline products should not be interpreted as being representative of single-crystal silicon carbide. The pressureless-sintered silicon carbides, being essentially single-phase, fine-grained, and polycrystalline, have properties distinct from both single crystals and direct-bonded silicon carbide refractories. Table 1 lists the properties of the fully compacted, high purity material. 

Thermal oxidation of the two most common forms of single-crystal silicon carbide with potential for semiconductor electronics applications is discussed 3C-SiC formed by heteroepitaxial growth by chemical vapour deposition on silicon, and 6H-SiC wafers grown in bulk by vacuum sublimation or the Lely method. SiC is also an important ceramic ana abrasive that exists in many different forms. Its oxidation has been studied under a wide variety of conditions. Thermal oxidation of SiC for semiconductor electronic applications is discussed in the following section. Insulating layers on SiC, other than thermal oxide, are discussed in Section C, and the electrical properties of the thermal oxide and metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors formed on SiC are discussed in Section D. 

Oyanagi, N. (2003) Method for growth of silicon carbide single crystal, silicon carbide seed crystal, and silicon carbide single crystal (sic ). W0/2004(111318). 

Zheng Z, Tressler R E, Spear K E, Oxidation of single-crystal silicon carbide, part... 

On silicon carbide, it is easier to see and measure step heights than in crystals like beryl, because SiC has polytypes, first discovered by the German crystallog-rapher Baumhauer (1912). The crystal structure is built up of a succession of close-packed layers of identical structure, but stacked on top of each other in alternative ways (Figure 3.24). The simplest kind of SiC simply repeats steps ABCABC, etc., and the step height corresponds to three layers only. Many other stacking sequences... 

Figure 3.23. A growth spiral on a silicon carbide crystal, originating from the point of emergence of a screw dislocation (courtesy Prof, S, Amelinckx).

Note The principal reinforcement, with respect to quantity, is glass fibers, but many other types are used (cotton, rayon, polyester/TP, nylon, aluminum, etc.). Of very limited use because of their cost and processing difficulty are whishers (single crystals of alumina, silicon carbide, copper, or others), which have superior mechanical properties. 

Pure silicon carbide is colorless, but iron impurities normally impart an almost black color to the crystals. Carborundum is an excellent abrasive because it is very hard, with a diamondlike structure that fractures into pieces with sharp edges (Fig. 14.43). 

Silicon carbide occurs in two slightly different crystal structures a single cubic form, (3SiC, and a large number of hexagonal... 

Silicon carbide (carborundum) Talc Bluish-black, very hard crystals. Used as an abrasive and refractory material. A hydrous magnesium silicate used in ceramics, cosmetics, paint and pharmaceuticals. 

When Acheson found the hexagonal crystals in the voids, he sent some to B.W. Frazier, a professor at Lehigh University. Professor Frazier found that although the crystals were all silicon carbide, they differed in their crystalline structure. He had discovered the polytypism of SiC [18]. Polytypism will be explained in Section 1.3.2. 

The basic building block of a silicon carbide crystal is the tetrahedron of four carbon atoms with a silicon atom in the center (Figure 1.4). There also exists a second type rotated 180° with respect to the first. The distance between the carbon and silicon atom is 1.89A and the distance between the carbon atoms is 3.08A [6]. SiC crystals are constructed with these units joining at the corners. 

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