Abstract
High temperature Pd-SiC Schottky diode gas sensors are known to thermally degrade due to interdiffusion and reaction at the metal-semiconductor interface. To understand and possibly eliminate this problem, detailed surface studies of thermally induced Pd-SiC surface interactions have been performed. These experiments compare standard 6H-SiC (0001) surfaces typical of those used in device fabrication with periodically stepped surfaces prepared by high temperature hydrogen etching. The Pd films range in thickness from the monolayer level (~0.4 nm) to actual device dimensions (~46.5 nm) and are deposited under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at ~50 °C. These films are characterized in-situ using Auger electron spectroscopy both before and after annealing at 670 °C. The Auger lineshapes provide quantitative information on the chemistry of the reaction products. Ex-situ atomic force microscopy is used to characterize changes in surface morphology.
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The Department of Energy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have supported this research.
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Stinespring, C.D., Peng, C.Y., Woodworth, A.A. et al. Interdiffusion and Reaction of Pd on Atomically Stepped 6H-SIC Surfaces: Progress Toward Thermally Stable High Temperature Gas Sensors. MRS Online Proceedings Library 828, 291–296 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-828-A7.10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-828-A7.10