Cathodoluminescence and EBIC investigations of stacking fault expansion in 4H-SiC due to e-beam irradiation at fixed points

Abstract

The effect of e-beam irradiation in the local and scan modes on the stacking fault expansion in 4H-SiC has been studied. It is shown that the distance, at which the e-beam affects the glide of partial dislocations driving the stacking fault expansion, does not exceed 10–12 μm. The dislocations were found to glide as straight lines with a velocity independent of their length, even when this length essentially exceeds the size of excitation volume. The irradiation at fixed points allows to separate the excess carrier effects on the kink formation and kink migration. The results obtained were explained under an assumption that the irradiation is necessary only to stimulate the kink pair formation and then the kinks can migrate without any excitation. That could mean that the barrier for the kink migration along Si-core 30° partial dislocations in 4H-SiC is very small.