Partial dislocation structures at expansion terminating areas of bar-shaped single Shockley-type stacking faults and basal plane dislocations at the origin in 4H-SiC

Abstract

Partial dislocation (PD) combinations near the substrate/epilayer interface and the epilayer surface of 4H-SiC are analyzed for bar-shaped single Shockley-type stacking faults (1SSFs) by plan-view transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with the aid of photoluminescence imaging. Although the PDs are found to have a zigzag structure similar to that found in triangular 1SSF by TEM observation, the combination is thought to be different, consisting of a 30° Si-core + 90° Si-core for the triangular 1SSF and 30° Si-core + 30° C-core for the bar-shaped 1SSF. The features of the basal plane dislocation at the origin are speculated on by also identifying the converted threading edge dislocation by additional Burgers vector determination of the PD loop by TEM.

Effect of basal plane dislocation structures on single Shockley-type stacking fault expansion rate in 4H-SiC

“…Structural differences in 1SSFs may be the key to better understanding the relationship with electrical properties. 11,19) In other words, differences in the combinations of PDs change the 1SSF shape as they expand, resulting in triangles, 8,20) trapezoids,8, 21,22) parallelograms, 21,22) bars with and without a triangle, 11,21,23) and double rhombuses. [24][25][26][27] The Burgers vectors and line directions of the PDs in various 1SSF shapes have been characterized using photoluminescence (PL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses, and the results can explain the expanded 1SSF shapes by the combinations of the Burgers vector and line direction of the BPD at the origin.…”

“…[24][25][26][27] The Burgers vectors and line directions of the PDs in various 1SSF shapes have been characterized using photoluminescence (PL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses, and the results can explain the expanded 1SSF shapes by the combinations of the Burgers vector and line direction of the BPD at the origin. [21][22][23][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] 1SSF shapes are understood by the different expansion rates of leading PDs of 30°or 90°Si(g); namely, 90°S i(g) PDs expand faster than 30°Si(g) PDs. 34,35) Only a few experiments on the expansion rates of 1SSFs have been reported, and these were conducted by electroluminescence (EL) or UV illumination.…”

Influence of Growth Process on Suppression of Surface Morphological Defects in 4H-SiC Homoepitaxial Layers

“…Other structural defects, such as through edge dislocation (TED) and through screw dislocation (TSD), cause surface pits and increase leakage current, which are less destructive. The main destructive defects are instant surface dislocation (BPD) defects and stacking faults (SF), which are likely to continuously increase the on-resistance of bipolar devices [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Surface defects, such as dump, scratch, particle, downfall (DF), triangle (TD), comet and carrot defects, are typically detrimental and easily observable, and often lead to device failure [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”