Tuning minority-carrier lifetime through stacking fault defects: The case of polytypic SiC

Abstract

Minority-carrier lifetime is one of the key parameters governing the performance of semiconductor devices. Here, we report on tuning the minority-carrier lifetime through stacking fault (SF) defects in polytypic SiC. The SFs are distinguished in terms of their characteristic luminescence peaks at 482 nm, 471 nm, and 417 nm, respectively. Different from general point, linear, and volume defects, the planar SFs demonstrate the interesting phenomena of either decreasing or increasing the minority-carrier lifetime, which depend on the SF-related energy levels. The mechanism for the down/up modulation of the carrier lifetime through the SFs is discussed.