Optical cross sections of deep levels in 4H-SiC

Abstract

We have characterized deep levels in 4H-SiC epilayers grown by cold wall chemical vapor deposition by the deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and the optical-capacitance-transient spectroscopy (O-CTS). Four kinds of DLTS peaks were detected in the epilayers. Three of them are identified as the Z1∕2, EH6∕7, and RD1∕2 centers, while the other one has never been reported previously, and was named the NB center. On the basis of these DLTS data we have estimated the thermal ionization energies. The classical optical ionization energies of these centers, which are given by the sums of thermal ionization energies and Franck-Condon shifts, were estimated via fittings of the measured optical cross sections from O-CTS data by means of a sufficiently general theoretical model. Temperature dependences of nonradiative multiphonon carrier capture cross sections for the Z1∕2 and NB centers were roughly estimated in terms of parametrical dependences on thermal ionization energies and Franck-Condon shifts.