Recent Progress on Preparation of 3C-SiC Single Crystal

Silicon carbide (SiC), as a representative wide bandgap semiconductor material, has increasingly demonstrated its significance in high-power, high-frequency and high-temperature electronic device applications. In recent years, SiC semiconductors have become primary material for power devices in electric drive modules and charging modules of new energy vehicles. Compared to Si-based insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), a kind of minority carrier device, SiC materials enable high-voltage resistance through majority carrier devices (such as Schottky barrier diodes and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)) with high-frequency device structures, which conversely allows SiC to simultaneously achieve key characteristics of low on-resistance and high frequency. It is easy to deduce that, SiC will also play an indispensable role in emerging fields such as electric aircrafts, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles for low-altitude transportation, augmented reality (AR), photovoltaic inverters, and rail transportation. Among various SiC polytypes, 3C-SiC stands out due to its unique cubic crystal structure, higher thermal conductivity (500 W/(m·K)) and channel mobility (approximately 300 cm2/(V·s)), showcasing significant application potential and research value. This paper provides an overview of the crystal structure, fundamental physical properties, application advantages, and major growth methods of 3C-SiC, including chemical vapor deposition (CVD), continuous-feed physical vapor transport (CF-PVT), sublimation epitaxy (SE), and top-seeded solution growth (TSSG). Research progress and the latest achievements in 3C-SiC crystal growth using above techniques are reviewed, focusing on the thermodynamic characteristics and growth mechanisms of vapor-phase and liquid-phase methods. The microscopic processes of crystal growth are analyzed and summarized, and the future development directions and application prospects for 3C-SiC crystals are discussed.

碳化硅（SiC）作为典型的宽禁带半导体材料（wide bandgap semiconductor material），在高功率、高频及高温电子器件应用中的重要性日益凸显。近年来，SiC半导体已成为新能源汽车电驱模块与充电模块功率器件的核心材料。相较于作为少数载流子器件（minority carrier device）的硅基绝缘栅双极型晶体管（IGBT），SiC材料通过多数载流子器件（majority carrier devices，如肖特基势垒二极管（Schottky barrier diodes）与金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管（MOSFET））的高频器件结构实现耐压，这反过来使得SiC能够同时兼具低导通电阻与高频这两大关键特性。不难推断，SiC还将在电动飞行器、用于低空运输的电动垂直起降飞行器（eVTOL）、增强现实（AR）、光伏逆变器（photovoltaic inverters）以及轨道交通等新兴领域发挥不可或缺的作用。在各类SiC多型体中，3C-SiC凭借其独特的立方晶体结构、更高的热导率（500 W/(m·K)）与沟道迁移率（约300 cm²/(V·s)）脱颖而出，展现出可观的应用潜力与研究价值。本文综述了3C-SiC的晶体结构、基本物理特性、应用优势及主要生长方法，包括化学气相沉积（CVD）、连续进料物理气相传输（CF-PVT）、升华外延（SE）与顶部籽晶溶液生长（TSSG）。本文回顾了采用上述技术制备3C-SiC晶体的研究进展与最新成果，重点探讨了气相与液相生长方法的热力学特性及生长机制。本文分析并总结了晶体生长的微观过程，并探讨了3C-SiC晶体的未来发展方向与应用前景。