Are dangling bond centers important interface traps in 4H-SiC metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors?

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have great promise in high power and high temperature applications. Unfortunately, effective channel mobilities remain disappointingly low, typically about 30 cm2/Vs. A major contributor to the disappointing effective channel mobilities is the presence of substantial densities of interface traps at the SiC/SiO2 interface. Many investigators have invoked silicon or carbon dangling bonds to be the dominating source of these interface defects, but very little, if any, direct experimental evidence exists to support this assumption in the SiC/SiO2 system. Cantin et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 1 (2004)] have used conventional electron paramagnetic resonance measurements on porous oxidized SiC structures to measure the g tensor for the SiC/SiO2 interface carbon dangling bond. These results provide a particularly straightforward means to search for the presence of carbon dangling bonds in fully processed SiC MOSFETs using electrically detected magnetic resonance. Additionally, simple theory provides guidance to search for silicon dangling bond defects. In this study, we utilize K band electrically detected magnetic resonance via spin dependent charge pumping measurements in which almost all of the SiC band gap at the SiC/SiO2 interface is accessed. Although quite high signal to noise measurements are achieved, we are unable to detect any trace of the carbon dangling bond spectra. However, in very poor quality p-channel devices, we observe a spectrum which could be consistent with silicon dangling bonds. Other defect centers are clearly present and we conclude that these other centers dominate the interface trap density of states.