Raman characterization of damaged layers of 4H-SiC induced by scratching

Recent development of device fabrication of SiC is awaiting detailed study of the machining of the surfaces. We scratched 4H-SiC surfaces with a sliding microindenter made of a SiC chip, and characterized machining affected layers by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results of the Raman measurement of the scratching grooves revealed that there were residual stress, defects, and stacking faults. Furthermore, with heavy scratching load, we found clusters of amorphous SiC, Si, amorphous carbon, and graphite in the scratching grooves. Analysis of the Raman spectra showed that SiC amorphization occurs first and surface graphitization (carbonization) is subsequently generated through the phase transformation of SiC. We expect that the Raman characterization of machined surfaces provides information on the machining mechanism for compound semiconductors.