The Effect of Surface Roughness on SiC by Wet Chemical Etching

The surface morphology and the surface roughness of n-type SiC induced by wet-treatment using 45% KOH and buffered oxide etchant (BOE-1HF: 6H(2)O) were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). While Si-face of SiC could be etched by alkali solutions such as KOH, acidic solutions such as BOE were hardly able to etch SiC. When the rough SiC samples were used, the surface roughness of etched sample was decreased after wet-treatment regardless of etchant, due to the planarization the of surface by widening of scratches formed by mechanical polishing. It was observed that the initial etching was affected by the energetically unstable sites, such as dangling bond and steps. However, when a relatively smooth sample was used, the surface roughness was rapidly increased after treatment at 180 degrees C for 1 hr and at room temperature for 4 hr by using KOH solution, resulting from the nano-sized structures such as pores and bumps. This indicates that porous SiC surface can be achieved by using purely chemical treatment.