Lateral enlargement of silicon carbide crystals

A new growth technique for lateral enlargement of silicon carbide crystals is presented and evaluated. The technique is based on PVT growth but modified with respect to temperature gradients and geometry as compared to conventional setup. Simulation of the temperature distribution for lateral growth as well as the growth mechanism is discussed. High-resolution X-ray diffraction and synchrotron white beam X-ray topography have been evaluated concerning structural defects. The results show that this growth technique makes it possible to enlarge seed crystals without threading screw dislocations and micropipes along the 0001 direction, but stacking faults are introduced due to the crystal stacking sequence along the <1 (1) over bar 00> directions. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.