2008 Volume 77 Issue 2 Pages 168-171
We have proposed catalyst-referred etching (CARE) as a new efficient planarization method that yields atomically flat and undamaged crystal surfaces. Since the flat catalyst activates a reactive species only on the catalyst surface, the sample surface can be etched only near the catalytic surface; therefore, flat and undamaged surfaces can be achieved. In this article, we introduce the concept of CARE and how we conceived the idea. In addition, we show the results of CARE of 4H-SiC, by which we expect to realize high-performance electronic devices, such as high-power, high-temperature and high-frequency devices.
