The electrical degradation of 4H–SiC PiN diodes had recently attracted much interest and was a critical material problem for high power applications. The degradation was caused by stacking faults observed as an increased forward voltage drop after forward injection operation. Electrical, optical and structural techniques were combined in order to study the formation and growth of the stacking faults which caused degradation. It was shown that 3 different sources caused 2 different types of stacking fault property.

Properties and Origins of Different Stacking Faults that Cause Degradation in SiC PiN Diodes. H.Jacobson, J.P.Bergman, C.Hallin, E.Janzén, T.Tuomi, H.Lendenmann: Journal of Applied Physics, 2004, 95[3], 1485-8