Impact of Epitaxial Defects on Device Behavior and their Correlation to the Reverse Characteristics of SiC Devices

Abstract

In this work we report on the impact of various crystalline defects present in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers on the electrical blocking characteristics of SiC power devices. Dedicated test structures were fabricated and electrically characterized in reverse bias mode. SiC substrate and epitaxial crystal defects, as well defects due to front-end processing were detected and classified using commercial inspection tools. Devices with a single defect-type were studied which leads to a direct correlation of the leakage current spot position within the device and the obtained blocking characteristics. This gives a better understanding of each crystal defect impact on device ́s performance which leads to an improvement in the reliability and cost reduction of SiC power devices.

Effects of proton implantation for expansion of basal plane dislocations in SiC toward suppression of bipolar degradation: review and perspective

“…Therefore, device manufacturers have been struggling with addressing instabilities in device performance and production yield due to unstable wafer quality. [8][9][10] Therefore, development of wafer inspection technologies has been explored to screen through poor quality wafers. 7,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Over the past two decades, basal plane dislocations (BPDs) in 4H-SiC substrates have emerged as crucial defects in SiC wafers.…”