The effectiveness of room-temperature photoluminescence mapping was demonstrated for non-destructive detection of in-grown stacking faults in off-axis 4H-SiC bulk substrates and epitaxial layers. The use of a deep-UV light excitation was essential to detect the stacking fault related intensity pattern in the bulk substrates because of its shallow penetration depth. A bar-shaped photoluminescence intensity pattern agreed well with the etch-pit pattern due to the stacking faults in the bulk substrate. The expansion length of the bar pattern from a bulk substrate to an epitaxial layer corresponded to the projected width of basal plane in the epitaxial layer. These results permitted the analysis of stacking faults that propagated from the bulk substrate and into the epitaxial layer.

Nondestructive Analysis of Propagation of Stacking Faults in SiC Bulk Substrate and Epitaxial Layer by Photoluminescence Mapping. N.Hoshino, M.Tajima, T.Nishiguchi, K.Ikeda, T.Hayashi, H.Kinoshita, H.Shiomi: Japan Journal of Applied Physics, 2007, 46, L973-5