Electropolishing of n-type 3C-polycrystalline silicon carbide

We achieved surface polishing on n-type 3C-polycrystalline SiC by means of electrochemical etching in diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF) solutions under constant applied current density, without the need of UV illumination. Electropolishing provides a smooth surface and reduction of roughness values by more than one half compared to the initial value. The polished surface is flat and featureless, with no sign of intergranular corrosion or other degradation phenomena related to the polycrystalline structure. Etching conditions such as HF concentration, current density, and etching time were varied in order to assess optimized values for polishing. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.