Graphitization of n-type polycrystalline silicon carbide and its application for micro- supercapacitors

Owing to the high power density, long life time and environmentally friendly characteristics, micro-supercapacitors have attracted much attention for powering microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. This paper describes the fabrication and performance of a planar micro-supercapacitor. The fabrication process is large scale and IC compatible, and thus it can be integrated with microelectronics. The device, made of high conductivity graphitic carbon (GC) on nitrogen-doped polycrystalline 3C-SiC (poly-SiC), has very high charge/discharge rates. The incorporated nitrogen in the carbon electrode induces pseudo-capacitance and realizes nearly twice the specific capacitance value reported on carbon nanotube (CNT) supercapacitors.