Abstract
Recent work on the single crystal growth of SiC ingots and epitaxial techniques for producing blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) are reviewed. 6H-SiC ingots have been reproducibly obtained using a sublimation method. Their quality is suitable for the substrate of a SiC blue LED. The degradation phenomenon of SiC blue LED under operation was eliminated by liquid phase epitaxy using an off-oriented substrate. The uniformity of and crystalinity of the epitaxial layer has been improved with an off-oriented substrate. The characteristics of blue LEDs and their applications are also reported. The typical luminous intensity of the blue LED is 12-15 mcd at 20mA. The peak wavelength of the LED is about 470 nm. SiC blue LEDs have been put on the market due to recent progress in crystal growth.
