Method of manufacturing compound single crystal

• US 20030047129A1
• Filed: 08/26/2002
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hoya Corporation
• Original Assignee: Hoya Corporation
• Inventors: Kawahara, Takamitsu, Nagasawa, Hiroyuki, Yagi, Kuniaki
• Granted Patent: US 6,736,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 117/2
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/02 Epitaxial-layer growth
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/18 characterised by the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 29/403 AIII-nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 29/406 Gallium nitride

Abstract

To provide a method of manufacturing compound semiconductor single crystals such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride by epitaxial growth methods, that is capable of yielding compound single crystals of comparatively low planar defect density. The method of manufacturing compound single crystals in which two or more compound single crystalline layers identical to or differing from a single crystalline substrate are sequentially epitaxially grown on the surface of said substrate. At least a portion of said substrate surface has plural undulations extending in a single direction and second and subsequent epitaxial growth is conducted after the formation of plural undulations extending in a single direction in at least a portion of the surface of the compound single crystalline layer formed proximately.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing compound single crystals in which two or more compound single crystalline layers identical to or differing from a single crystalline substrate are sequentially epitaxially grown on the surface of said substrate,

characterized in that at least a portion of said substrate surface has plural undulations extending in a single direction and second and subsequent epitaxial growth is conducted after the formation of plural undulations extending in a single direction in at least a portion of the surface of the compound single crystalline layer formed proximately.

2. The method of manufacturing according to claim 1 wherein said compound single crystalline layer is a compound single crystal differing from the single crystalline substrate, and the compound single crystal constituting the compound single crystalline layer and the single crystal constituting the single crystalline substrate have similar space lattices.

3. The method of manufacturing according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the direction of the plural undulations extending on the single crystalline substrate surface and the direction of extension of the plural undulations provided on the surface of the compound single crystalline layer formed on said substrate surface are either identical or perpendicular.

4. The method of manufacturing according to any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the direction of extension of the plural undulations provided on the surface of the compound single crystalline layer provided adjacently to the growth direction is identical or perpendicular.

5. The method of manufacturing according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said single crystalline substrate is single crystalline SiC.

6. The method of manufacturing according to any of claims 1 to 5 wherein said compound single crystalline layer is single crystalline SiC, gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, or aluminum gallium nitride.

7. The method of manufacturing according to any of claims 1 to 6 wherein said single crystalline SiC substrate is cubic SiC in which the basal plane is the (001) face, or hexagonal SiC in which the basal plane is the (11-20) face or the (1100) face.