Thermodynamic equilibration of the carbon vacancy in 4H-SiC: A lifetime limiting defect

Abstract

The carbon vacancy (VC) is a prominent defect in as-grown 4H-SiC epitaxial layers for high power bipolar devices. VC is electrically active with several deep levels in the bandgap, and it is an efficient “killer” of the minority carrier lifetime in n-type layers, limiting device performance. In this study, we provide new insight into the equilibration kinetics of the thermodynamic processes governing the VC concentration and how these processes can be tailored. A slow cooling rate after heat treatment at ∼2000 °C, typically employed to activate dopants in 4H-SiC, is shown to yield a strong reduction of the VC concentration relative to that for a fast rate. Further, post-growth heat treatment of epitaxial layers has been conducted over a wide temperature range (800–1600 °C) under C-rich surface conditions. It is found that the thermodynamic equilibration of VC at 1500 °C requires a duration less than 1 h resulting in a VC concentration of only ∼1011 cm−3, which is, indeed, beneficial for high voltage devices. In order to elucidate the physical processes controlling the equilibration of VC, a defect kinetics model is put forward. The model assumes Frenkel pair generation, injection of carbon interstitials (Ci's) from the C-rich surface (followed by recombination with VC's), and diffusion of VC's towards the surface as the major processes during the equilibration, and it exhibits good quantitative agreement with experiment.