Raman microprobe mapping of residual microstresses in 3C-SiC film epitaxial lateral grown on patterned Si(1 1 1)

Abstract Raman piezo-spectroscopy characterizations of a silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor device, epitaxially grown on a Si(1 1 1) substrate, are described. The device was grown by a selective epitaxial growth approach, based on a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, which enabled us to reduce to a significant extent the high density of interfacial defects in the deposited 3C-SiC phase. Upon preliminary piezo-spectroscopic calibrations, made in bending geometry on a bulk SiC sample with the same phase composition of the device, mapping of microscopic residual stress fields both on surface and side of the semiconductor device was attempted. It is shown that the present Raman microprobe assessments allowed: (i) to quantitatively evaluate the impact of the manufacturing process on the final device microstructure; and, (ii) to visualize a model for residual stress intensification during the CVD growth process.