Experimental and simulation studies of surface segregation-limited nitrogen incorporation at the growth front of physical vapor transport-grown 4H-SiC crystals

Experimental and simulation studies were conducted for surface segregation-limited kinetics of nitrogen incorporation into a 4H-SiC crystal during physical vapor transport (PVT) crystal growth. It was revealed that the nitrogen incorporation is kinetically limited by the step-flow velocity on the growing crystal surface of a 4H-SiC crystal; in this study, the surface step-flow velocity at the growth front was deduced from the local inclination angle of the growth front measured from the (0001¯) plane, assuming a uniform growth rate along the c-axis (crystal growth direction) across the growth front, and the nitrogen concentration across the growth front was measured using Raman scattering microscopy. The step-flow velocity dependence of nitrogen incorporation was theoretically analyzed using a two-site-exchange model, and the simulated dependence using the model was in good agreement with the experimental data. On the basis of these experimental and simulation results, kinematical and energetical aspects of nitrogen incorporation at the growth front of a 4H-SiC crystal during PVT growth are discussed.