Effect of inclusion on 4H-SiC during nano-scratching from an atomistic perspective

Yuhua Huang; Miaocao Wang; Jinming Li; Fulong Zhu

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/ac18f2

Effect of inclusion on 4H-SiC during nano-scratching from an atomistic perspective

J Phys Condens Matter. 2021 Aug 12;33(43). doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac18f2.

Authors

Yuhua Huang¹, Miaocao Wang¹, Jinming Li¹, Fulong Zhu¹

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Microsystems, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei Province, 430074, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 34325405
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac18f2

Abstract

Inclusion, a common three-dimension defect, can be introduced during SiC epitaxy. In this study, we constructed nano-scratching molecular dynamics models embedded in two common types of inclusion-C-inclusion and Si-inclusion-to explore the effect of inclusion during scratching. Furthermore, the microstructure and atomistic behavior, surface morphology, scratching force, stress, and temperature were analyzed to bridge the simulation and processing parameters. The results showed that inclusion could affect the microstructure and atomistic behavior, and machinability. To eliminate inclusion completely, high penetration depth was required, but it would promote the process parameter sensitivity of inclusion. In summary, the behavior of C-inclusion embedded in SiC more likes a hard particle, while the behavior of Si-inclusion embedded in SiC more likes a soft particle.

Keywords: 4H-SiC; inclusion; molecular dynamics; nano-scratching.