Nitrogen decoration of basal plane dislocations in 4H-SiC

TL;DR

This study investigates how nitrogen doping affects basal-plane dislocations in 4H-SiC, revealing that N transforms BPDs from acceptor-like to donor-like states, which impacts electron transport and device reliability.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the interaction between nitrogen dopants and BPDs, combining experimental and theoretical methods to clarify their electronic behavior.

Findings

BPDs act as acceptors in undoped 4H-SiC.

N doping converts BPDs into donor-like states.

N atoms spontaneously decorate BPDs during doping.

Abstract

Basal-plane dislocations (BPDs) pose a great challenge to the reliability of bipolar power devices based on the 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC). It is well established that heavy nitrogen (N) doping promotes the conversion of BPDs to threading edge dislocations (TEDs) and improves the reliability of 4H-SiC-based bipolar power devices. However, the interaction between N and BPDs, and the effect of N on the electronic properties of BPDs are still ambiguous, which significantly hinder the understanding on the electron-transport mechanism of 4H-SiC-based bipolar power devices. Combining molten-alkali etching and the Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) analysis, we demonstrate that BPDs create acceptor-like states in undoped 4H-SiC, while acting as donors in N-doped 4H-SiC. First-principles calculations verify that BPDs create occupied defect states above the valence band maximum (VBM) and unoccupied defect states under the conduction-band minimum (CBM) of undoped 4H-SiC. The electron transfer from the defect states of intrinsic defects and native impurities to the unoccupied defect states of BPDs gives rise to the acceptor-like behavior of BPDs in undoped 4H-SiC. Defect formation energies indicate that N atoms can spontaneously decorate BPDs during the N doping of 4H-SiC. The binding between N and BPD is strong against decomposition. The accumulation of N dopants at the core of BPDs results in the accumulation of donor-like states at the core of BPDs in N-doped 4H-SiC. This work not only enriches the understanding on the electronic behavior of BPDs in N-doped 4H-SiC, but also helps understand the electron transport mechanism of 4H-SiC-based bipolar power devices.