THIN-FILM DEPOSITION AND MICROELECTRONIC AND OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICE FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION IN MONOCRYSTALLINE ALPHA AND BETA SILICON-CARBIDE

The unique thermal and electronic properties of silicon carbide provide multiplicative combinations of attributes which lead to one of the highest figures of merit for any semiconductor material for use in high-power, -speed, -temperature, -frequency and radiation hard applications. Structurally, silicon carbide exists in a host of polytypes, the origins of which are incompletely understood. The continual development of the deposition of silicon carbide thin films and the associated technologies of impurity incorporation, etching, surface chemistry, and electrical contacts have culminated in a host of solid-state devices including field effect transistors capable of operation to 925 K. The results of these several research programs in the United States, Japan and the Soviet Union, and the remaining challenges related to the development of silicon carbide vis a vis microelectronics are presented and discussed in this review.