Identification of subsurface damage of 4H-SiC wafers by combining photo-chemical etching and molten-alkali etching

Abstract In this work, we propose to reveal the subsurface damage (SSD) of 4H-SiC wafers by photo-chemical etching and identify the nature of SSD by molten-alkali etching. Under UV illumination, SSD acts as a photoluminescence-black defect. The selective photo-chemical etching reveals SSD as the ridge-like defect. It is found that the ridge-like SSD is still crystalline 4H-SiC with lattice distortion. The molten-KOH etching of the 4H-SiC wafer with ridge-like SSD transforms the ridge-like SSD into groove lines, which are typical features of scratches. This means that the underlying scratches under mechanical stress give rise to the formation of SSD in 4H-SiC wafers. SSD is incorporated into 4H-SiC wafers during the lapping, rather than the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP).