The spin relaxation of nitrogen donors in 6H SiC crystals as studied by the electron spin echo method

TL;DR

This study investigates the spin relaxation mechanisms of nitrogen donor electrons in 6H SiC crystals using electron spin echo, revealing temperature-dependent relaxation processes and the influence of donor site types and electron hopping.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into the spin relaxation dynamics of nitrogen donors in 6H SiC, highlighting the effects of different growth methods and donor site environments.

Findings

Spin-lattice relaxation rate (T1^-1) follows T and T^9 dependence for Nk1,k2 donors.

Donor electrons at hexagonal sites relax via cross-relaxation with fast-relaxing centers.

Phase memory relaxation time (Tm) shortens at lower temperatures due to electron hopping.

Abstract

We present the detailed study of the spin kinetics of the nitrogen (N) donor electrons in 6H SiC wafers grown by Lely method and by sublimation "sandwich method" (SSM) with a donor concentration of about 10^17 cm^-3 at T = 10-40 K. The donor electrons of the N donors substituting quasi-cubic "k1" and "k2" sites (Nk1,k2) in both types of the samples revealed the similar temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate (T1^-1), which was described by the direct one-phonon and two-phonon processes induced by the acoustic phonons proportional to T and to T^9, respectively. The character of the temperature dependence of the T1^-1 for the donor electrons of N substituting hexagonal ("h") site (Nh) in both types of 6H SiC samples indicates that the donor electrons relax through the fast-relaxing centers by means of the cross-relaxation process. The observed enhancement of the phase memory relaxation rate (Tm^-1) with the temperature increase for the Nh donors in both types of the samples, as well as for the Nk1,k2 donors in Lely grown 6H SiC, was explained by the growth of the free electron concentration with the temperature increase and their exchange scattering at the N donor centers. The observed significant shortening of the phase memory relaxation time Tm for the Nk1,k2 donors in the SSM grown sample with the temperature lowering is caused by hopping motion of the electrons between the occupied and unoccupied states of the N donors at Nh and Nk1,k2 sites. The impact of the N donor pairs, triads, distant donor pairs formed in n-type 6H SiC wafers on the spin relaxation times was discussed.