JP2010248025A - Method for producing silicon carbide powder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a silicon carbide powder, by which it becomes possible to uniformly supply a sublimation gas of SiC and a sublimation gas of a dopant to a seed crystal and the possibility of mixing of impurities is reduced in the case when the dopant is mixed with an SiC raw material powder. <P>SOLUTION: The method for producing a silicon carbide powder includes: a process for forming a liquid mixture 7 by mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, a reaction catalyst, and a vanadium-containing compound; a process for exhausting an exhaust gas while introducing an inert gas into the liquid mixture 7 under such a condition that the liquid mixture 7 is arranged in a reduced pressure atmosphere; a process for forming a solid substance 19 by drying and hardening the liquid mixture 7; and a process for forming the silicon carbide powder 25 by carbonizing and firing the solid substance 19 by heating it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing silicon carbide powder, and more particularly to a method for producing high-quality silicon carbide powder capable of obtaining a desired resistivity.

  Conventionally, as a method for growing a single crystal of silicon carbide (SiC), for example, there is a sublimation recrystallization method. This sublimation recrystallization method is a method for growing a SiC single crystal by heating a SiC raw material powder contained in a reaction vessel to generate a sublimation gas and supplying the sublimation gas onto a seed crystal made of SiC. is there. Since it has been found that the resistivity of the SiC single crystal can be controlled by adding an impurity to the sublimation gas, arsenic or an arsenic compound as a dopant is mixed in the SiC raw material powder, A method of heating the mixture to generate sublimation gas is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-234800 A

  However, in the silicon carbide powder manufacturing method described above, the SiC raw material powder and arsenic or arsenic compound first sublimate the dopant arsenic or arsenic compound at the same heating temperature. Thus, since the sublimation rate is different between the SiC raw material powder and the dopant, there is a difference in concentration between the SiC sublimation gas and the dopant sublimation gas, and it is difficult to dope uniformly.

  Moreover, although the method of supplying the sublimation gas containing a dopant to the seed crystal from the exterior of reaction container can also be considered, there existed a problem that an impurity was highly likely to mix from the outside.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a SiC sublimation gas and a dopant sublimation gas uniformly to the seed crystal when a dopant is mixed with the SiC raw material powder, and at the same time, carbonization with low possibility of mixing impurities. The object is to provide a method for producing silicon powder.

  The first feature of the present invention is that a silicon source, a carbon source, a reaction catalyst, and a vanadium-containing compound are mixed to form a liquid mixture (liquid mixture 7), and the liquid mixture is subjected to a reduced pressure atmosphere. And exhausting the exhaust gas (exhaust gas Out (G)) while introducing an inert gas (introduction gas In (G)) into the liquid mixture, and drying and curing the liquid mixture Silicon carbide powder having a step of producing a solid (solid matter 19) by heating and a step of producing silicon carbide powder (silicon carbide powder 25) by heating and carbonizing and firing the solid matter. It is a manufacturing method.

  Thus, since vanadium which is a dopant is added to the liquid mixture, when the silicon carbide powder is heated to generate a sublimation gas, the silicon carbide and the dopant are sublimated simultaneously and uniformly. Gas is generated, variation in sublimation gas concentration is reduced, and uniform gas is generated. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of different polymorphs in the grown single crystal and to obtain a high-quality silicon carbide single crystal having a desired resistivity.

  Another feature of the present invention is that vanadium oxide acetylacetonate is used as the vanadium-containing compound.

  Another feature of the present invention is summarized in that the reaction catalyst is a polymerization or crosslinking catalyst.

  According to the method for producing silicon carbide powder according to the present invention, when the dopant is mixed with the SiC raw material powder, the SiC sublimation gas and the dopant sublimation gas can be uniformly supplied to the seed crystal. The possibility of contamination is low.

It is the schematic which shows the state which has introduce | transduced the inert gas into the liquid mixture by embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the state which has produced | generated the solid substance by embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the state which is producing | generating the silicon carbide powder by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the silicon carbide powder by embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the detail of the manufacturing method of the silicon carbide powder which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated based on drawing. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic, and the thicknesses and ratios of the material layers are different from actual ones. Therefore, specific thicknesses and dimensions should be determined in consideration of the following description. Moreover, the part from which the relationship and ratio of a mutual dimension differ also in between drawings is contained.

  First, before describing the method for producing silicon carbide powder according to the present invention, the structure of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be briefly described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a state where an inert gas is introduced into a liquid mixture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  An elongated tubular introduction pipe 3 extending in the vertical direction is inserted into the upper surface 1a of the reaction vessel 1, the inlet end 3a is disposed on the upper end side, and the outlet end 3b is disposed on the lower end side. An introduction gas In (G) such as an inert gas is introduced into the introduction pipe 3, and the outlet end 3 b extends to the vicinity of the bottom of the reaction vessel 1. A discharge pipe 5 extending in the horizontal direction is disposed at the upper end of the side surface 1b of the reaction vessel 1. From this discharge pipe 5, the exhaust gas Out (G) in the reaction vessel 1 is discharged outward. In FIG. 1, a liquid mixture 7 is accommodated in the reaction vessel 1.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a solid material according to an embodiment of the present invention is generated.

  The apparatus used in this process is a drying chamber 11 disposed outside and a storage container 13 disposed inside the drying chamber 11. The storage container 13 includes a side surface 15 formed in a cylindrical shape and a bottom surface 17 disposed at the bottom of the side surface 15. The drying chamber 11 is provided with a heating means (not shown), and the heating means is heated so that the inside of the drying chamber 11 has a high temperature and a low humidity so that the liquid mixture in the container 13 is dried. Thus, the solid 19 can be generated.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a state in which silicon carbide powder according to an embodiment of the present invention is generated.

  A heating coil 21 wound spirally is provided on the outer peripheral side, and a heating furnace 23 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the heating coil 21. Inside the heating furnace 23, the storage container 13 shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, silicon carbide powder 25 is stored in the storage container 13.

  Next, a method for producing silicon carbide powder according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of the silicon carbide powder according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the method for producing silicon carbide powder according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, (1) a liquid source 7 is produced by mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, a reaction catalyst, and a vanadium-containing compound. A first step, (2) a second step of exhausting exhaust gas while introducing an inert gas into the liquid mixture 7 in a state where the liquid mixture 7 is placed in a reduced-pressure atmosphere, and (3) the liquid mixture 7 It has the 3rd process which produces | generates the solid substance 19 by making it dry and harden | cure, and the 4th process which produces | generates the silicon carbide powder 25 by heating (4) this solid substance 19 and carbonizing and baking.

  In the first step, as shown in FIG. 1, a liquid source 7 is produced by mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, a reaction catalyst, and a vanadium-containing compound inside the reaction vessel 1.

  The silicon source is preferably ethyl silicate. The carbon source is preferably a phenol resin. The reaction catalyst is preferably maleic acid or the like. The vanadium-containing compound is preferably vanadium oxide acetylacetonate. The dopant is vanadium (V) that can be dissolved in a liquid obtained by mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, and a reaction catalyst. The reaction catalyst is preferably a polymerization or crosslinking catalyst.

  In the second step, as shown in FIG. 1, the liquid mixture 7 is accommodated in the reaction vessel 1 and placed in a reduced-pressure atmosphere, and in this state, the exhaust gas Out is introduced while introducing an inert gas into the liquid mixture 7. (G) is exhausted. Specifically, the liquid mixture 7 obtained by mixing the silicon source, the carbon source, the reaction catalyst, and the vanadium-containing compound described above is housed in the reaction vessel 1, and the liquid mixture is introduced from the inlet end 3 a of the introduction pipe 3. 7 is supplied with an inert gas as an introduction gas. At the same time, the exhaust gas Out (G) is exhausted outward from the exhaust pipe 5.

  In the third step, as shown in FIG. 2, the solid mixture 19 is generated by drying and curing the liquid mixture 7.

  The liquid mixture 7 obtained in the second step is introduced into the storage container 13 of FIG. 2, and the storage container 13 is placed inside the drying chamber 11. In this state, the inside of the drying chamber 11 is heated to a high temperature by heating means, and the liquid mixture 7 in the storage container 13 is dried to obtain a solid 19.

  In the fourth step, silicon carbide powder 25 is generated by heating and carbonizing and firing solid material 19. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the storage container 13 in which the solid material 19 is stored is placed in the heating furnace 23, and a current is passed through the heating coil 21 to heat the storage container 13. The solid material 19 is heated, carbonized and fired to produce silicon carbide powder 25.

  Below, the effect by embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

<Operation effect>
(1) A method for producing silicon carbide powder according to the present invention includes a step of mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, a reaction catalyst, and a vanadium-containing compound to produce a liquid mixture 7, and the liquid mixture 7 In a reduced pressure atmosphere, exhausting the exhaust gas while introducing an inert gas into the liquid mixture 7, generating a solid 19 by drying and curing the liquid mixture 7, and this solid And heating the product 19 to carbonize and fire it to produce silicon carbide powder 25.

  Thus, since vanadium as a dopant is added to the liquid mixture 7, when the silicon carbide powder 25 is heated to generate a sublimation gas, the silicon carbide and the dopant are sublimated simultaneously and uniformly. As a result, sublimation gas is generated, variation in sublimation gas concentration is reduced, and uniform gas is generated. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of different polymorphs in the grown single crystal and to obtain a high-quality silicon carbide single crystal having a desired resistivity.

(2) When vanadium oxide acetylacetonate is used as the vanadium-containing compound, vanadium oxide acetylacetonate has good solubility in the liquid mixture, so that the variation in sublimation gas concentration is further reduced, resulting in a more uniform gas. Generated.

(3) The reaction catalyst is preferably a polymerization or crosslinking catalyst. This is because it acts as an accelerator for the reaction between the carbon source and the silicon source.

  It should not be understood that the description and the drawings, which form part of the disclosure of the above-described embodiments, limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, vanadium (V) that can be dissolved in a liquid obtained by mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, and a reaction catalyst is used as the dopant. However, even if the dopant cannot be dissolved at the time of mixing, it may be dissolved by the reaction heat in the process of generating heat in the process of the reaction proceeding with the reaction catalyst.

  Next, the present invention will be described more specifically through examples.

First, ethyl silicate 40 as a silicon source, phenol resin as a carbon source, and maleic acid as a reaction catalyst were mixed in amounts of 1700 g, 460 g, and 240 g, respectively, to form a liquid mixture. In this maleic acid, vanadium oxide acetylacetonate (vanadium-containing compound) was previously dissolved in 0.1%, that is, about 0.24 g of vanadium oxide acetylacetonate was dissolved in 240 g of an aqueous maleic acid solution. Incidentally, ethyl silicate 40, numeral "40" in the ethyl silicate 40 refers to SiO ₂ minutes, SiO ₂ is meant to be included 40 wt% in total of ethyl silicate.

  With the liquid mixture placed in a reduced pressure atmosphere, the exhaust gas was exhausted while introducing Ar gas as an inert gas into the liquid mixture. Thereafter, the liquid mixture was dried and cured to produce a solid, and this solid was heated to be carbonized and fired to produce 200 g of silicon carbide powder.

  When an SiC single crystal was grown using the vanadium-containing silicon carbide powder thus obtained, an insulating SiC single crystal having a resistance of 10 × 5 Ω · cm or more could be obtained.

7 Liquid mixture 19 Solid 25 Silicon carbide powder In (G) Introduced gas (inert gas)
Out (G) exhaust gas

Claims (3)

A step of mixing a silicon source, a carbon source, a reaction catalyst, and a vanadium-containing compound to form a liquid mixture;
A step of exhausting exhaust gas while introducing an inert gas into the liquid mixture in a state where the liquid mixture is disposed in a reduced pressure atmosphere;
Producing a solid by drying and curing the liquid mixture;
And a step of producing silicon carbide powder by heating and carbonizing and firing the solid material.   The method for producing silicon carbide powder according to claim 1, wherein the vanadium-containing compound is vanadium oxide acetylacetonate.   The method for producing silicon carbide powder according to claim 1, wherein the reaction catalyst is a polymerization or crosslinking catalyst.

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