Effect of crystallographic dislocations on the reverse performance of 4H-SiC p-n diodes

TL;DR

This study quantitatively examines how different types and locations of crystallographic dislocations affect the reverse performance of 4H-SiC p-n diodes, revealing specific impacts on leakage current and breakdown voltage.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the effects of various dislocation types and their positions on diode performance, highlighting the relative severity of each dislocation's influence.

Findings

Basal plane dislocations increase leakage current.

Screw dislocations lower breakdown voltage.

Threading edge dislocations have less impact despite higher density.

Abstract

A quantitative study was performed to investigate the impact of crystallographic dislocation defects, 21 including screw dislocation, basal plane dislocation, and threading edge dislocation, and their locations in 22 active and JTE region, on the reverse performance of 4H-SiC p-n diodes. It was found that higher leakage 23 current in diodes is associated with basal plane dislocations, while lower breakdown voltage is attributed to 24 screw dislocations. The above influence increases in severity when the dislocation is in the active region than 25 in the JTE region. Furthermore, due to the closed-core nature, the impact of threading edge dislocation on the 26 reverse performance of the p-n diodes is less severe than that of other dislocations although its density is 27 much higher.