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Webinar

SiC: From Substrate preparation to Device fabrication for High-End Power Applications

30th November 2022 at 3 PM (GMT)


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About the Webinar

Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) is an ideal material for high-voltage (>1.2kV), harsh environment, and temperature operation devices because of its high critical electric field, excellent thermal conductivity, and material maturity. Owing to its properties, it is touted as a material of choice to replace Si for a wide variety of demanding power applications such as electric vehicles (EV) and local power creation and distribution networks.

Unlike Si, however, manufacturing SiC devices come with a multitude of manufacturing challenges at each process step. Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology has identified Chemical Mechanical Polish (CMP) process as critical. Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology has developed the contactless Plasma Polish Dry Etch (PPDE) technique as an alternative method to replace CMP in SiC HVM fabs which offers many advantages including lower production costs, no wafer breakage as a contactless technique, reduction of wet chemical usage, cross wafer uniformity and reproducibility.

In this webinar, we introduce Oxford Instruments PPDE technique which is a key to having better control on SiC epi layers and good quality devices. To demonstrate our process capability, we will share the results of pin diodes and MOSFETs on 150mm full wafers, obtained in a joint collaboration with Clas-SiC, which show excellent performance in comparison with conventionally CMP prepared wafers. Clas-SiC have 1200V SiC Diode and SiC MOSFET Process Design Kits (PDK’s) to provide fast prototyping for SiC wafer fabrication. The PDK approach minimises technical risk and optimises the R&D cycle and manufacturability. The PDK’s were reliability proven using a reference MOSFET and a reference Diode, and while Clas-SiC, as a pure-play foundry, are not seeking to sell these in the marketplace, they are excellent vehicles for testing out new materials, tools, or processes. These reference devices were very successfully used to examine the viability of Oxford Instruments’ new PPDE technique, demonstrating very encouraging results.

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This webinar is in collaboration with:

Clas-SiC

Meet the Presenters

Dr Samantha Mazzamuto

Dr Samantha Mazzamuto is the Applications Development Team Leader on etch at Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology.

For 10 years she has worked as a researcher on CdTe, CIGS and Kesterite solar cells becoming an expert on polycrystalline thin films deposition and PV devices. Samantha joined Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology as an Application Engineer on plasma etch four years ago. She has been leading projects on SiC etch becoming the technical expert on SiC for OIPT for three years.

Samantha has a degree in Physics and she received her PhD in Material Science.


Dr David Clark

Dr David Clark, Technology & Customer Relations Manager at Clas-SiC,  has a strong background in process engineering and process development, with more than 24 years of silicon process integration, device engineering, process development, and yield engineering experience at Raytheon Systems. He moved into Silicon Carbide process integration and device engineering in 2004 and has experience across many SiC device technologies including Schottky diodes, PiN diodes, MOSFET’s, JFET’s,BJT’s, CLD’s and MESFET’s. During David’s tenure at Raytheon, he worked on a number of successful SiC process developments leading to successful manufacture of 1000’s of SiC device wafers.  

David Clark has a first class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering as well as a Post Graduate Certificate in Advanced Silicon Processing and Manufacturing Technologies. He has authored or co-authored more than 10 SiC processing papers, is joint inventor of one SiC related patent, and has three other SiC related patent submissions pending. David joined Clas-SiC in 2017 as Principal Technologist, with oversight of Clas-SiC’s technology roadmap and technical direction.

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