The effect of charge on kink migration at 90° partial dislocations in SiC

Abstract

AbstractSiC bipolar devices show a degradation under forward‐biased operation which has been linked with a recombination enhanced motion of one of the two glide dislocations having either Si or C core atoms. We have carried out calculations of the core structures and dynamics of partial dislocations in 3C and 2H–SiC using the density functional based codes DFTB and AIMPRO. After in earlier theoretical work we reported on the structure, energetics and electronic activity of both of the Shockley partials, and on the formation and migration barriers of kinks, in this work we present first results on the effect of charge on the disloction kinks. The calculations give insights into the device degradation mechanism. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)