Nitriding characteristics of 4H-SiC irradiated with remote nitrogen plasmas

We examined the atomic concentrations and the weight densities of SiC surfaces irradiated with remote nitrogen plasmas. The unique approach of this work is that we compared the SiC surface irradiated with atomic nitrogen with that irradiated with a mixture of atomic nitrogen and molecular nitrogen in the metastable A(3)Sigma(+)(u) state. As a result, it was found that molecular nitrogen in the A(3)Sigma(+)(u) state has a higher efficiency than atomic nitrogen in the nitriding of SiC surfaces. The weight density measurements have revealed the removal of Si and C from the SiC surface by the irradiation of remote nitrogen plasma. These results suggest that the formation of volatile molecules is less significant when the SiC surface is irradiated with molecular nitrogen in the metastable A(3)Sigma(+)(u) state. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics