Functional materials have always been our daily companion. If we have used stones, wood, or special metallic alloys as or for the production of tools or everyday objects over the millennia, our everyday life today can no longer be imagined without tailor-made semiconductor materials. They form the basis for micro- and nano-engineered components in the field of electronics, sensors and actuators, and are used in various products such as smartphones, motor and electric vehicles (EVs), charging stations, trains, computers and air conditioning systems. Furthermore, the provision of services in a wide variety of applications that we use today as a matter of course, such as 5G, streaming, cloud computing, Internet-of-Things and smart homes, would not be possible without this extraordinary class of materials.

For power electronics used in modern EVs or fast charging stations, the compound semiconductor silicon carbide (SiC) is of particular interest. Due to the high band gap, lower intrinsic carrier concentration, high critical electric field strength and higher thermal conductivity, SiC-based devices are smaller, lighter and have a more efficient energy conversion compared to similar devices made out of the mainstream semiconductor silicon. However, the complex synthesis of SiC results in limited availability of high-quality substrates, high material costs and, as a consequence, SiC power devices have currently a relatively low market share.

It is therefore the vision of this Christian Doppler Laboratory to pave the road for a significant increase in the market share of SiC-based devices by enabling multiple utilizations and hence sustainable exploitation of already available SiC substrates using a novel layer transfer technique. Fundamental research towards the underlaying key technologies including porosification, compactification and heterogeneous integration of SiC will represent the main research blocks of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Sustainable Silicon Carbide Technology. The research work will be explored by an interdisciplinary team including young and experienced researchers managed by Dr. Georg Pfusterschmied.

Picture shows the four research areas as a block diagram

Web link

Team

Univ.Ass. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn.Georg Pfusterschmied

Director

Phone: +43 1 58801 36649

Projektass. Dott. mag.Marta Pennese

PhD student

Phone: +43 1 58801 36633

Projektass. Dipl.-Ing.Bozhidar DejkoskiBSc

PhD student

Phone: +43 1 58801 36677

Publications

  1. Yang, T., et al. "First-principles energy calculations for steps and vicinal surfaces of polar zincblende silicon carbide by generalizing wedge-geometry method." Computational Materials Science. 273 (2026) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2026.114967
  2. Raad, R., et al. "XPS investigation of gas cluster ion beam effects on the Si-face of 4H-SiC towards damage-free surface cleaning." Applied Surface Science (2026). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2026.168083
  3. Pfusterschmied, G., et al. "Structural Investigations of Pore Nucleation after Electrochemical Porosification of 4H-SiC for MEMS", Sensor and Measurement Science International (SMSI), 2025. https://doi.org/10.5162/SMSI2025/B2.1
  4. Pfusterschmied, G., et al. "CMOS-Compatible Pore Nucleation on 4H-SiC Si-Face via Reactive Ion Etching for Homogeneous Electrochemical Etching." Materials Science Forum. Vol. 1193. Trans Tech Publications Ltd, 2026. https://doi.org/10.4028/p-onsJ9i
  5. Raad, R., et al. "Low-damage gas cluster ion beam polishing of the C-face of 4H-SiC." Advanced Etch Technology and Process Integration for Nanopatterning XV. Vol. 13984. SPIE, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3090190
  6. Pfusterschmied, Georg, et al. "Multiple Detachment of Porous 4H-SIC Thin Foils Using Electrochemical Etching." 2026 IEEE 39th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). IEEE, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMS64181.2026.11419586
  7. Yang, T., et al. "DFT Calculations on the Surface Termination of 4H-SiC {10-10} and {11-20} during Photoelectrochemical Pore Formation." Scientific Books of Abstracts 8 (2024): 656-657.
  8. Parmar, Priyank, et al. "High-Temperature Adhesive Bonding of 4H-SiC Substrates." Materials Science Forum. Vol. 1156. Trans Tech Publications Ltd, 2025. https://doi.org/10.4028/p-dO4k3J
  9. Perazzi, Marco, et al. "High-Temperature Reorganization Behavior of Single-Crystalline Porous 4H-SiC Thin Foils." Materials Science Forum. Vol. 1124. Trans Tech Publications Ltd, 2024, https://doi.org/10.4028/p-D0xoyc
  10. Wahid, Shan Nizam, et al. "A Novel Approach for Thin 4H-SiC Foil Realization Using Controlled Spalling from a 4H-SiC Wafer." Materials Science Forum. Vol. 1124. Trans Tech Publications Ltd, 2024, https://doi.org/10.4028/p-8AEonP 

Funding

  • Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG)

Industrial partners

  • Infineon Technologies Austria AG
  • EV Group E. Thallner GmbH
  • Umicore SA