Published in J. Appl. Phys. 92, 4070 (2002).
Morphology and Effects of Hydrogen Etchings of Porous SiC
Ashutosh Sagar (a), C. D. Lee (a), R. M. Feenstra (a),
C. K. Inoki (b), and T. S. Kuan (b)
(a)Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(b)Department of Physics, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12222
Abstract
The morphology of the porous network in porous SiC has been studied.
It has been found that pore formation starts with a few pores on the
surface and then the porous network grows in a V-shaped branched
structure below the surface. The hydrogen etching rates of porous and
nonporous SiC have been measured. Etch rates of porous and nonporous
wafers of various miscuts are found to be equal within a factor of
two, indicating that the rate-limiting step in the etching process
arises from the supply of active etching species from the gas phase.
The porous SiC etches slightly faster than the nonporous SiC, which is
interpreted simply in terms of the reduced average density of the
porous material.
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