Papers by Author: Lars S. Løvlie

Abstract: Comparative studies of gate oxides on a N+ pre-implanted area (Ninterface ~1x1019cm-3) and on a virgin Si face 4H-SiC material (Ninterface ~1x1016cm-3) have been undertaken by means of Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) characteristics, performed at different temperatures and frequencies, and Thermal Dielectric Relaxation Current technique. In the non implanted samples, the stretch out of the C-V curves get larger as the temperature is lowered to 150K, while for lower temperatures the C-V characteristics become steeper and some discontinuities occur. These discontinuities are specific for the non-implanted sample and are associated with charging of the fast near interface states (NIToxfast) via a tunneling from the shallow interface states (Dit). The tunneling from the shallow Dit to NIToxfast supress the a.c. response of Dit, which is recovered only after most of the NIToxfast are charged with electrons.

Abstract: The effect of nitrogen (N) introduced by ion implantation at the SiO2/4H-SiC interface on the capacitance of the MOS capacitors is investigated. The Thermal Dielectric Relaxation Current (TDRC) technique and Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) measurements performed at different temperatures and probe frequencies on an N implanted sample and on a virgin sample were employed for this purpose. There are three types of defects located at or near the interface, Dit, NIToxfast and NIToxslow that can be distinguished. Only Dit and NIToxfast respond to the a.c. small, high frequency signal at temperatures above 150K. The separation of Dit from the NIToxfast states have enabled us to study the influence of the excess of interfacial Nitrogen on each of the mentioned defects. It has been found that the N-implantation process fully suppresses the formation of NIToxfast and partially NIToxslow and Dit. Theoretical C-V characteristics were computed, based on the defect distributions determined by TDRC, and compared with the experimental ones showing a close agreement.

Abstract: Annealing of the Z1/2 and EH6/7 has been studied by DLTS after ion implantation of MeV Si ions and subsequent annealing in either N2 or O2 at 1150 °C, in the dose range 1 - 4 × 108 Si / cm2. It is found that the annealing rate of these prominent defects is greatly enhanced after thermal oxidation, and in particular close to the surface area, due to injection of a defect species which annihilates with both Z1/2 and EH6/7. The migration part of the diffusion coefficient of the injected defect is established to be in the range 1 – 2 × 10-8 cm2/s, and the measured concentration versus depth profiles of both Z1/2 and EH6/7 are accurately simulated by a simple model.

Abstract: 4H-SiC has been irradiated with 10 keV protons and a laterally resolved DLTS study performed to study the diffusion of irradiation induced intrinsic point defects. It is found that the defects migrate on the order of hundreds of μm laterally and carbon interstitials (CI) are believed to be involved in the defect formation. However, the vertical diffusion lengths are revealed to be several orders of magnitude shorter, on the order of hundreds of nm. Specifically, the Z1,2, S1,2 and EH6,7 levels are found to be generated significant distances from the irradiated area, suggesting that CI or another highly mobile species are involved in the formation of these defects.

Abstract: The purpose of this work is to compare the density of shallow interface states (Dit) at the interface of SiO2/SiC MOS capacitors as deducted by the conductance spectroscopy (CS) and thermally dielectric relaxation current (TDRC) techniques. Both capacitors of 4H- and 6H-SiC (n-type) are investigated, and both ordinary dry oxidation and an improved industrial procedure have been employed. The two techniques are found to give rather good agreement for interface states located ≥0.3 eV below the conduction band edge (Ec) while for more shallow states vastly different distributions of Dit are obtained. Different reasons for these contradictory results are discussed, such as strong temperature and energy dependence of the capture cross section of the shallow interface states.

Abstract: Nitrogen doped 4H-SiC epitaxial layers grown by hot-wall chemical vapor deposition were investigated by deep level transient spectroscopy after irradiation with 6 MeV electrons or 1.6 MeV protons. The influence of silane and propane flows used during the epilayers growth on the behaviour of radiation induced EH6,7 levels is studied. Samples grown under different conditions were investigated: 1 sample grown in steps of different C/Si ratio obtained by changing the propane flow only; 1 sample grown in steps of different C/Si ratio obtained by changing the silane flow only; 2 samples grown with a C/Si ratio of 1.5 but with different flows of propane and silane. These investigations revealed that the low thermal stability of EH6,7 (the defects anneal out at temperatures as low as 750K) is due to the magnitude of silane flow used during the growth irrespective of the C/Si ratio. A possible structure of the EH6,7 defect is discussed.