Passive-oxidation kinetics of high-purity silicon carbide from 800 degrees to 1100 degrees C

Highly textured chemically vapor-deposited silicon carbide (CVD-SiC) thick films were oxidized and compared to single-crystal SiC and single-crystal silicon, The oxidation rates of the (111) face of the cubic CVD-SiC were the same as those of the (0001) face of the single-crystal SiC. Similarly, the opposite faces of the two materials, ((111) over bar) and (<000(1)over bar>), also oxidized at nominally the same rates. The ((111) over bar) and (<000(1)over bar>) faces oxidized much faster than their opposite (111)/(0001) faces, Ellipsometry measurements and kinetic results implied that differences existed between the oxides that grew on the opposite faces. A regression method was developed to analyze the oxide thickness versus time versus temperature behavior of the specimens simultaneously. This technique was compared to typical methods for analyzing temperature-dependent processes and estimated temperature-dependent parameters (e.g., activation energy) and their errors more accurately.