Oxidation temperature influence on the properties of oxide layers thermally grown on 4H-SiC by wet oxidation

Abstract The compositional characteristics of oxide layers thermally grown on 4H-SiC were investigated as a function of oxidation temperature. We tracked the evolution of the oxide properties over different oxidation times. Two distinct oxidation regimes were identified: an initial phase where a substoichiometric oxide forms, followed by its conversion into SiO 2 . Oxidation temperature proved to be a key parameter in achieving stoichiometric SiO 2 . At the lowest temperature used in this study (900 °C), only substoichiometric layers were produced. Additionally, our results indicate a similar behavior for both wet and dry SiC oxidation processes, suggesting that both involve a multi-step mechanism.