Oscillatory structure in radiation spectra of individual microplasmas in silicon carbide p-n-junctions

Abstract

The breakdown electroluminescence spectra of individual microplasmas in a p-n-junction with microplasma breakdown, which was prepared on a 3C-SiC crystal, have been investigated. The clear periodic structure of an oscillatory nature, which was discovered first by the authors recently, with a period of about 0.16 eV was observed in the emission spectra of this microplasma. The oscillations were superimposed over the entire investigated spectral region between 1.8–4.7 eV. The amplitude of the oscillations amounted to 0.05–0.25 of the background radiation intensity. The characteristics of the oscillatory structure and of the background radiation have been separated and compared. It turned out that they depend in different ways on the temperature and on the sample-powering regime. It has been revealed that the oscillatory structure is associated apparently with the energy transition (X3c−X1c) in the conduction band.