The present invention provides an epitaxial film forming method for epitaxially growing a high-quality group III nitride semiconductor thin film on an -Al.sub.2O.sub.3 substrate by a sputtering method. In the epitaxial film forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention, when an epitaxial film of a group III nitride semiconductor thin film is to be formed on the -Al.sub.2O.sub.3 substrate arranged on a substrate holder provided with a heater electrode and a bias electrode of a sputtering apparatus, in a state where the -Al.sub.2O.sub.3 substrate is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the heater electrode, high-frequency power is applied to a target electrode and high-frequency bias power is applied to a bias electrode and at that time, the powers are applied so that frequency interference between the high-frequency power and the high-frequency bias power does not occur.

A method of producing silicon carbide is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a sublimation furnace comprising a furnace shell, at least one heating element positioned outside the furnace shell, and a hot zone positioned inside the furnace shell surrounded by insulation. The hot zone comprises a crucible with a silicon carbide precursor positioned in the lower region and a silicon carbide seed positioned in the upper region. The hot zone is heated to sublimate the silicon carbide precursor, forming silicon carbide on the bottom surface of the silicon carbide seed. Also disclosed is the sublimation furnace to produce the silicon carbide as well as the resulting silicon carbide material.

A vapor phase growth apparatus includes a reactor, a plurality of flow paths, a cap, and an attachment. The reactor has an inlet through which vapor phase growth gas is introduced therein. The plurality of flow paths extend from the inlet to the outside of the inlet 8a. The cap has an introduction passage. The attachment has a branch path connectable to the introduction passage, and is attached to the cap. The branch path is branches in a tournament-tree shape from the introduction passage side toward the downstream side of the material gas, so that the branched paths are connected to the corresponding flow paths. Thus, a vapor phase growth apparatus capable of improving uniformity of the film thickness of an epitaxial layer grown on a substrate with high cost effectiveness, is provided.

A method of producing silicon carbide is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a sublimation furnace comprising a furnace shell, at least one heating element positioned outside the furnace shell, and a hot zone positioned inside the furnace shell surrounded by insulation. The hot zone comprises a crucible with a silicon carbide precursor positioned in the lower region and a silicon carbide seed positioned in the upper region. The hot zone is heated to sublimate the silicon carbide precursor, forming silicon carbide on the bottom surface of the silicon carbide seed. Also disclosed is the sublimation furnace to produce the silicon carbide as well as the resulting silicon carbide material.

A method of manufacturing a SiC single crystal includes: a storing step of storing a SiC source, which is a powder, in an inner bottom part of a crucible, wherein the crucible is configured to store the SiC source and to attach a seed crystal to a position of the crucible which faces the SiC source; a placing step of placing a porous material on at least a portion of a first surface of the SiC source, wherein the first surface is positioned on a side of the seed crystal; and a crystal growth step of sublimating the SiC source by heating to grow a crystal on the seed crystal, in which the porous material is formed of carbon or a carbide, and the hole diameter of the porous material is smaller than the average particle diameter of the SiC source.

The present invention provides a single crystal growth method capable of suppressing the recrystallization of the raw material gas subjected to sublimation on the surface of the raw material, and suppressing the generation of different polytypes in the crystal growing single crystal. The single crystal growth method is carried out in a crucible comprising an inner bottom for providing a raw material and a crystal mounting part facing the inner bottom. The method comprises in the following order: providing the raw material in the inner bottom; covering at least a part of a surface of the raw material with a metal carbide powder in a plan view from the crystal mounting part; and growing a single crystal disposed in the crystal mounting part by sublimating the raw material by heating.

This shielding member that is placed between a SiC source loading portion and a crystal installation portion in an apparatus for single crystal growth, wherein the device includes a crystal growth container including the SiC source loading portion which accommodates a SiC source in an inner bottom portion, and the crystal installation portion facing the SiC source loading portion, and a heating unit that is configured to heat the crystal growth container, and the device grows a single crystal of the SiC source on a crystal installed on the crystal installation portion by sublimating the SiC source from the SiC source loading portion; the shielding member includes a plurality of shielding plates, wherein each area of the plurality of shielding plates is 40% or less of a base area of the crystal growth container, and wherein, in a case where the SiC source loading portion is filled with a SiC source, a shielding ratio provided by a projection surface of the plurality of shielding plates, which is projected on an internal circle of the SiC source loading portion at SiC source surface, is 0.5 or more.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a preferably elongated SiC solid, in particular of polytype 3C. The method according to the invention preferably includes at least the following steps: Introducing at least a first source gas into a process chamber, said first source gas including Si, introducing at least one second source gas into the process chamber, the second source gas including C, electrically energizing at least one separator element disposed in the process chamber to heat the separator element, setting a deposition rate of more than 200 ?m/h, where a pressure in the process chamber of more than 1 bar is generated by the introduction of the first source gas and/or the second source gas, and where the surface of the deposition element is heated to a temperature in the range between 1300? C. and 1800? C.

The embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a method and an apparatus for crystal growth. The method for crystal growth may include: placing a seed crystal and a target source material in a growth chamber of an apparatus for crystal growth; executing a growth of a crystal based on the seed crystal and the target source material according to physical vapor transport; determining whether a preset condition is satisfied during the crystal growth process; and in response to determining that the preset condition is satisfied, replacing a sublimated target source material with a candidate source material. In the present disclosure, by replacing the sublimated target source material with the candidate source material, a crystal with large-size and high-quality can be grown.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a preferably elongated SiC solid, in particular of polytype 3C. The method according to the invention preferably includes at least the following steps: Introducing at least a first source gas into a process chamber, said first source gas including Si, introducing at least one second source gas into the process chamber, the second source gas including C, electrically energizing at least one separator element disposed in the process chamber to heat the separator element, setting a deposition rate of more than 200 ?m/h, where a pressure in the process chamber of more than 1 bar is generated by the introduction of the first source gas and/or the second source gas, and where the surface of the deposition element is heated to a temperature in the range between 1300? C. and 1800? C.