Electron-hole recombination enhanced glide of Shockley partial dislocations bounding expanding stacking faults and their interactions with threading dislocations were studied in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers. The mobile Si-core Shockley partial dislocations bounding the stacking faults were observed to cut through threading edge dislocations, leaving no trailing dislocation segments in their wake. When the Shockley partial dislocations interact with threading screw dislocations, 30° partial dislocation dipoles were initially deposited in their wake. These partial dislocation dipoles quickly and spontaneously snap into screw orientation whereupon they cross slip and annihilate, leaving a prismatic stacking fault on the (2¯1▪0) plane.

Observations of the Influence of Threading Dislocations on the Recombination Enhanced Partial Dislocation Glide in 4H-Silicon Carbide Epitaxial Layers. Y.Chen, M.Dudley, K.X.Liu, R.E.Stahlbush: Applied Physics Letters, 2007, 90[17], 171930