Piezoresistive Thermal Characteristics of Aluminum-Doped P-Type 3C-Silicon Carbides

Abstract

This study examined the temperature-related piezoresistance issues of p-type doped 3C-silicon carbide (3C-SiC) materials. Previously, we proposed piezoresistance temperature models that describe phenomena based on the ionization energies of materials oriented for high-temperature operations. This study aimed to determine the ionization energy as a function of the aluminum doping concentration of 3C-SiC. However, at the low-temperature region a drastic decrease in the piezoresistive coefficient was observed, and it was predicted to occur when materials possessing large impurity ionization energy are used under negative thermal strained conditions. This phenomenon is in contrast to the conventional piezoresistance factor P(N,T) that is based on narrow band-gap materials such as silicon or germanium; thus, it provides new insights into low-temperature piezoresistance phenomena.