Nanoindentation pop‐in anisotropy responses of 4H SiC

As a third‐generation semiconductor material with a wide bandgap, SiC possesses characteristics such as high‐temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and high‐frequency capability. Notably, its mechanical hardness is second only to that of diamond. In this study, we focused on analyzing the mechanical responses in nano‐scale of the 4H‐SiC single crystals on different crystallographic planes of (0001), (20) and (00), specifically examining the anisotropic nano‐scaled hardness, reduced modulus and dislocation first pop‐in events. These findings can serve as a reference for semiconductor device packaging processes. It is found that there could be anisotropy effects for modulus, hardness, pop‐in load and stress, and dislocation nucleation activation volume. It is found that the activation volume for the onset of plasticity in SiC is remarkably small, on the atomic scale. With increasing elastic modulus, the activation volume of the dislocation first pop‐in (or the first dislocation nucleation) becomes smaller.