Final Report Summary - NETFISIC (Training NETwork on Functional Interfaces for SiC)
Silicon carbide has outstanding electronic properties so that electronic devices made from this material can withstand very high electric power and temperature. In addition, one of the main added value of SiC electronics is energy saving and thus CO2 emission reduction so that this new technology shall contribute significantly to make the world greener.
Though hundreds of crystalline forms (also called polytypes) of SiC have been identified, the most stable are called 4H, 6H, 15R and 3C. Simply looking to their basic electronic properties, 4H-SiC is the most suitable for the fabrication of high power and high temperature devices. However, despite the efforts done worldwide, 4H-SiC power device performances are still suffering from non-optimized interfaces, mainly with the insulating layer (SiO2) but also with metal contacts. In theory, other polytypes such as 3C-SiC or 15R-SiC could present better properties but one has to face the difficulty of growth and stabilization of these polytypes. Indeed, elaboration of SiC crystals requires very high temperature (>2000) while in this temperature range the 3C and 15R polytypes are much less stable than 4H one.
NetFISiC main scientific objective was to explore several routes for understanding and improving both the interfacial and bulk properties of 4H-SiC material, while trying to find growth solutions to 3C and 15R polytypes. The main type of electronic device targeted was Metal-Oxyde-Semiconductor (MOS).
Concomitantly, and taking the importantly growing SiC technology as an appropriate multidisciplinary tool for study, the NETFISiC main objective was to train the next generation of researchers on various semiconductor related fields (such as physics, material science and engineering). 13 Early Stage Researchers and 6 Experienced Researchers were recruited and trained individually at host laboratories enriched by specific shared training in other partner's institution and joint training activities organized by the network, to provide them with the broad background necessary to understand and master the various aspect of semiconductor science, and become a future research leader in the field.
On the material aspect, fundamental research was performed in order to grow and stabilize 3C and 15R polytypes using vapour phase techniques. By combining the wide competences of the consortium on growth and characterization, new knowledge on the growth mechanism and material properties was generated but more time was found necessary for significantly improving these materials. Intentional doping of various polytypes of SiC material was also investigated using not only the standard impurities (N and Al) but also a non-conventional one (Ge). In the latter case, Ge doped 4H-SiC displayed clear improvement in electronic properties without any significant drawback, even after MOS capacitor or Schottky contact fabrication. This unexpected result has obvious potential applications for fabricating higher efficiency power devices.
In parallel, much effort was made on the improvement of SiC/SiO2 interface for MOS device applications. This required defining the best investigation technique which was found to be the charge pumping. Various oxidation or post-oxidation recipes were used and electrically tested. When the treatments were performed under N or P elements, improved electronic properties were obtained due to enhanced n type doping few atomic layers below the SiC/SiO2 interface. Beside the major studies on MOS based structures, additional work was carried out on JFET based devices and Schottky barrier diodes. Finally, with the aim of modifying SiC surface, mono-layer and few layers graphene was grown and characterized. Homogeneous and high quality monolayer graphene was obtained on Si face substrates while it was found more difficult on C face ones.
The Netfisic project coordinated by Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 is an inter-disciplinary European consortium with expertise in the field of SiC and related materials bringing together 9 academic institutions and three companies from seven different countries. All partners are specialists in their respective fields (from material growth and characterization to electronic device evaluation and fabrication) and are well known to the relevant international community, where they are active members.
Through an extensive programme/planning of exchanges and secondments, all the young researchers were trained on the various techniques, facilities and equipment available within the consortium, benefiting from other partners’ expertise, learning under the expert guidance of the other professors and industry leaders of the consortium, and collaborate with an even larger number of scientists involved in their field of research.
The young researchers’ training was further complemented by 9 joint training events of various types (schools, workshop, tutorial days…) organized by the project partners in order to broaden and complete their knowledge background. The events aimed in benefiting the whole scientific community, as well, by being open to external participants and extensively publicized.
Overall, NetFISiC network reached its objective to increasing the basic knowledge on various polytypes of SiC material, while having constantly in target the device applications, and most importantly contributed to the emergence and strengthening of a young scientific community in this highly complex and strategic technological field. Career perspectives of this cohort of young researchers were widely expanded through the multidisciplinarity and multiculturality they were exposed to, and through the exposure to both academic and industrial research environments.
The project will thereby contribute to the competitiveness of European research institutions and industry R&D departments dealing with SiC electronics and to long-term strengthening of the European position on this technologically important field.
Web site: www.netfisic.eu
Partners: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), Linköping University (SE), Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble (FR), NOVASiC SA (FR), Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Vilnius University (LT), Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (ES), ACREO A.B. (SE), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerce (IT), INFINEON Technologies AG (DE)
Coordinator: Dr. Gabriel Ferro
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
gabriel.ferro@univ-lyon1.fr
Though hundreds of crystalline forms (also called polytypes) of SiC have been identified, the most stable are called 4H, 6H, 15R and 3C. Simply looking to their basic electronic properties, 4H-SiC is the most suitable for the fabrication of high power and high temperature devices. However, despite the efforts done worldwide, 4H-SiC power device performances are still suffering from non-optimized interfaces, mainly with the insulating layer (SiO2) but also with metal contacts. In theory, other polytypes such as 3C-SiC or 15R-SiC could present better properties but one has to face the difficulty of growth and stabilization of these polytypes. Indeed, elaboration of SiC crystals requires very high temperature (>2000) while in this temperature range the 3C and 15R polytypes are much less stable than 4H one.
NetFISiC main scientific objective was to explore several routes for understanding and improving both the interfacial and bulk properties of 4H-SiC material, while trying to find growth solutions to 3C and 15R polytypes. The main type of electronic device targeted was Metal-Oxyde-Semiconductor (MOS).
Concomitantly, and taking the importantly growing SiC technology as an appropriate multidisciplinary tool for study, the NETFISiC main objective was to train the next generation of researchers on various semiconductor related fields (such as physics, material science and engineering). 13 Early Stage Researchers and 6 Experienced Researchers were recruited and trained individually at host laboratories enriched by specific shared training in other partner's institution and joint training activities organized by the network, to provide them with the broad background necessary to understand and master the various aspect of semiconductor science, and become a future research leader in the field.
On the material aspect, fundamental research was performed in order to grow and stabilize 3C and 15R polytypes using vapour phase techniques. By combining the wide competences of the consortium on growth and characterization, new knowledge on the growth mechanism and material properties was generated but more time was found necessary for significantly improving these materials. Intentional doping of various polytypes of SiC material was also investigated using not only the standard impurities (N and Al) but also a non-conventional one (Ge). In the latter case, Ge doped 4H-SiC displayed clear improvement in electronic properties without any significant drawback, even after MOS capacitor or Schottky contact fabrication. This unexpected result has obvious potential applications for fabricating higher efficiency power devices.
In parallel, much effort was made on the improvement of SiC/SiO2 interface for MOS device applications. This required defining the best investigation technique which was found to be the charge pumping. Various oxidation or post-oxidation recipes were used and electrically tested. When the treatments were performed under N or P elements, improved electronic properties were obtained due to enhanced n type doping few atomic layers below the SiC/SiO2 interface. Beside the major studies on MOS based structures, additional work was carried out on JFET based devices and Schottky barrier diodes. Finally, with the aim of modifying SiC surface, mono-layer and few layers graphene was grown and characterized. Homogeneous and high quality monolayer graphene was obtained on Si face substrates while it was found more difficult on C face ones.
The Netfisic project coordinated by Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 is an inter-disciplinary European consortium with expertise in the field of SiC and related materials bringing together 9 academic institutions and three companies from seven different countries. All partners are specialists in their respective fields (from material growth and characterization to electronic device evaluation and fabrication) and are well known to the relevant international community, where they are active members.
Through an extensive programme/planning of exchanges and secondments, all the young researchers were trained on the various techniques, facilities and equipment available within the consortium, benefiting from other partners’ expertise, learning under the expert guidance of the other professors and industry leaders of the consortium, and collaborate with an even larger number of scientists involved in their field of research.
The young researchers’ training was further complemented by 9 joint training events of various types (schools, workshop, tutorial days…) organized by the project partners in order to broaden and complete their knowledge background. The events aimed in benefiting the whole scientific community, as well, by being open to external participants and extensively publicized.
Overall, NetFISiC network reached its objective to increasing the basic knowledge on various polytypes of SiC material, while having constantly in target the device applications, and most importantly contributed to the emergence and strengthening of a young scientific community in this highly complex and strategic technological field. Career perspectives of this cohort of young researchers were widely expanded through the multidisciplinarity and multiculturality they were exposed to, and through the exposure to both academic and industrial research environments.
The project will thereby contribute to the competitiveness of European research institutions and industry R&D departments dealing with SiC electronics and to long-term strengthening of the European position on this technologically important field.
Web site: www.netfisic.eu
Partners: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), Linköping University (SE), Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble (FR), NOVASiC SA (FR), Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Vilnius University (LT), Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (ES), ACREO A.B. (SE), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerce (IT), INFINEON Technologies AG (DE)
Coordinator: Dr. Gabriel Ferro
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
gabriel.ferro@univ-lyon1.fr