Growth rate enhancement of (0001)-face silicon-carbide oxidation in thin oxide regime

The thermal oxidation of silicon carbide (SiC) has been studied by performing in-situ ellipsometry. We have found that the oxidation rates at the oxidation thickness of approximately less than around 20 nm are much larger than those given using the Deal-Grove (D-G) model, suggesting that the oxidation time dependence of the oxide thickness cannot be explained using the D-G model, i.e., a simple linear-parabolic model, in the initial oxidation stage. By using the empirical relation, which has been proposed for Si oxidation, i.e., adding an exponential term to the D-G equation, the origin of the growth rate enhancement in SiC oxidation has been discussed.