Bulk crystal growth is the technique for fabrication of single crystalline substrates, making the base for further device processing. This chapter describes the seeded sublimation technique used today for high-quality crystals. The focus is on the main growth parameters that are important for doping control and defect reduction. Also, liquid phase epitaxy and the recently presented high-temperature chemical vapour deposition technique for bulk crystals are discussed. In order to fabricate doped device structures, which demand extremely high crystal quality with low defect density, vapour phase epitaxy is performed on the substrates grown by bulk techniques. Vapour phase epitaxy is also treated in detail, with a description of the most common reactor geometries, precursor gases and growth parameters. Methods to avoid defects and to improve the doping profiles are also presented.

In this chapter we will discuss wet and dry patterning techniques for SiC and the relative merits of these methods. We describe the basic principles involved in etching SiC and problems that can arise because of the binary nature of the lattice and its relatively high bond strength. Recent developments in the use of high-density plasma sources to achieve fast etching rates (in some cases over 1 μm min^-1 for bulk 4H-SiC) are discussed: these sources are likely to play a dominant role for processing of SiC devices since they are capable of producing etch depths from 0.1 to 100 μm with minimal disruption of the SiC surface. These processes are also applicable to microelectromechanical systems engineering based on SiC substrates.

This chapter covers Schottky (rectifying barrier) and ohmic (nonrectifying, no barrier) contacts to SiC. There are a few devices such as the MESFET and the Schottky diode that actually need Schottky contacts. However, for most devices ohmic contacts are preferred between a metal and semiconductor. To understand the formation of ohmic contacts, the theory for Schottky contacts is needed, and it is therefore covered first in this chapter. The formation methods are similar for both contact types, and are covered mainly in the section on Schottky contacts. The only way to know if a contact is good enough is to measure its electrical characteristics, and therefore electrical characterisation methods are covered in detail for both contact types.