Papers by Keyword: Extended Defects

Abstract: The high sensitivity of positrons to directly probe atomic scale defects revealing their structure and characteristics makes it a unique tool in materials science research covering all types of materials from hard to soft matter. This review focuses on applications of positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) in hard materials. However, it is not intended as a comprehensive review of the foundations of positron annihilation spectroscopy and description of its techniques. These exist in numerous publications cited in this review. Instead, the aim here is to facilitate employing PAS and interpretation of its measurements by illustrating the advantages, limitations, and challenges and guiding the reader on how to overcome technical problems and how to interpret PAS results in meaningful ways. Applications of PAS in electronic and photonic materials, nuclear and irradiated materials, and engineering materials are discussed. Examples are given to guide the reader on how PAS can be combined with complementary methods to uncover the fundamentals of defect physics and reveal interesting new phenomena in condensed matter.

Abstract: Several defects were analyzed through the manufacturing chain along with their impact on devices. High kill rate of micropipes were seen on both Diodes and MOSFETs as expected. The purity of micropipe detection was found to be affected by the presence of inclusions. Inclusions were successfully sub-classified and separated out from micropipes, based on their location depth from the wafer surface. The effect on devices was found to relate to how deep the inclusion was located, with the ones at the surface having the biggest impact. Various sources of Stacking Faults (SFs) were reported, with Basal Plane Dislocations (BPDs) in the crystal being a major contributor. Higher local densities of BPDs were found to have a more detrimental effect. SFs were sub-classified using the wavelength of each peak. The effect of both overall SFs and each SF sub-type on devices was determined, each sub-type having different effect on the device. Various ways of mitigating the effects of defects and dislocations are demonstrated. Reducing killer defects, SF nucleation probability, and BPDs propagation by epitaxial process optimizations are shown. Resilience up to 3500A/cm² against bipolar degradation is demonstrated by using an engineered buffer layer. Process and device design optimizations show high resiliency against crystal and epi defects and dislocations, with improved yield and lower leakage.

Abstract: The detection and classification of SiC Epitaxial extended defects was refined to separate out defective areas that influence device characteristics. Die level defect localization along with defect area calculations were performed on millions of die across product groups. A clear impact of non-killer defects was observed, especially with increasing density and defective area in the die. Specifically, all types of stacking faults caused higher leakage, lower blocking voltage, and increases in ON resistance and threshold leakage. Furthermore, MOSFET devices were affected to a much larger extent than diode devices. Testing die with higher numbers of defects provides insight on device reliability. Analyzing devices with specific counts of BPDs let us quantify the amount of bipolar degradation caused drift by product/voltage classes.

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.

Abstract: Two fully loaded epitaxial growth runs with 16 wafers in total were conducted in the AIXTRON G5 WW reactor in order to keep epigrowth conditions constant. The wafers were selected with a large spread of specific resistivity and dislocation densities. The resulting epilayers showed very good intra-wafer homogeneities as well as excellent wafer-to-wafer and run-to-run reproducibility with regard to epilayer thickness and doping concentration, point defect concentrations of Z_1/2 and EH_6/7 and the resulting Shockley-Read-Hall carrier lifetime. We found that the dislocation densities of the underlying substrates are influencing the stacking fault densities of the epilayers, which then vary between 0.1 and 10 cm^-2. A substrate effect on the effective minority carrier lifetime was found.

Abstract: We have performed capacitance-voltage (C-V) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements on Schottky contacts fabricated on triangular defects in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers. These measurements are a case study on the effect of a specific extended defect on the DLTS spectrum in order to contribute to the physical understanding of curious features occasionally observed in DLTS spectra. Our measurements reveal an inversion of the DLTS signal depending on applied voltages and filling pulse lengths, and a step in the C-V characteristic of the Schottky diode. We present a model that qualitatively describes the experimentally obtained data. In this model, we assume that stacking faults within a triangular defect form quantum wells, which can capture electrons from other defects during the DLTS measurement leading to the inversion of the DLTS spectrum. Moreover, by calculating the differential capacitance using a self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson-Solver, the step in the C-V measurements is reproduced by our model.

Abstract: This paper describes 3D imaging of extended defects in 4H-SiC using optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) and two-photon-exited photoluminescence (2PPL). SHG selectively yields the 3D images of 3C-inclusions in a 4H-SiC epilayer, while 2PPL provides 3D images of 3C-inclusions, 8H stacking faults and single Shockley stacking faults. 2PPL band-edge emission visualizes dislocation lines of threading screw dislocations and threading edge dislocations, the tilt angles of which are evaluated.

Abstract: For specific modification of the fundamental optical and photoelectrical properties of silicon transparent for wavelengths beyond 1.1μm, boron ions have been implanted into n-type wafers at doses of 1 х 10¹³ cm^-2–1 х 10¹⁵ cm^-2 followed by annealing at 900 °C and 1000 °C (20 min). The IR reflection spectra, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy data have been compared with the photosensitivity spectra (1.4–2.2 μm) and with the integrated photoresponse in the IR (1.0–4.1 μm) and UV (0.25–0.4 μm) regions. These studies allow for materials engineering to obtain new data on the influence of defect formation on the optical properties of the material and to evaluate the technological conditions for practical application of the modified material.

Abstract: First-principles quantum-chemical simulations are combined with TCAD device modelling to examine the impact of the intrinsic stacking faults and Σ5-(001) twist grain-boundaries on the performance of solar cell efficiency. We find from the combination of these computational methods, the optical properties of ideal stacking faults are similar to those of pure Si, whereas the optimised grainboundaryleads to a clear change in the real and imaginary parts of refractive index, increasing the solar-cell current density, and thus the solar cell efficiency. The impact at a device level is dependent upon the areal density of such material. So far as the optically absorption and carrier generation is concerned, segregation of diffusing iron at these planar defects has a negligible impact on device characteristics, but non-radiative recombination processes and carrier traps due to iron are expected to significantly affect efficiency in these regions.

Abstract: Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy has been used to characterize neutron-irradiated cubic silicon carbide crystals. The effects of thermal annealing (600-1100^OC) on the PL bands have been studied. Several PL bands consisting of a sharp line and its phonon replicas have been observed in the 9-80 K temperature range. Certain of them like the D₁ spectrum doublet with 1.975 eV and 1.977 eV zero-phonon lines (ZPL) at 9 K and the L2 spectrum with ZPL at 1.121 eV were reported previously for ion-implanted and electron irradiated 3C-SiC crystals, respectively. Besides, some new bands with ZPL at 2.027, 1.594, 0.989 and 0.844 eV and a broad band at 1.360 eV have been found. A correlation of PL and EPR spectra intensities of these neutron-irradiated and annealed cubic SiC crystals is briefly discussed.