Spin exchange dynamics in 4H SiC monocrystals with different nitrogen donor concentrations

TL;DR

This study investigates the spin exchange interactions between conduction electrons and nitrogen donors in 4H SiC monocrystals across various donor concentrations, revealing temperature-dependent electron localization and detailed g-factor variations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of spin coupling dynamics in 4H SiC with different nitrogen donor levels using advanced EPR techniques, highlighting temperature effects and energy level estimations.

Findings

Localized electrons attributed to different nitrogen sites at varying concentrations.

Exchange coupling causes a dominant single EPR line at high temperatures.

Energy levels of 57-65 meV linked to valley-orbit splitting in 4H SiC.

Abstract

4H silicon carbide (SiC) polytype is preferred over other SiC polytypes for high-power, high-voltage, and high-frequency applications due to its superior electrical, thermal, and structural characteristics. In this manuscript, we provide a comprehensive study of the spin coupling dynamic between conduction electrons and nitrogen (N) donors in monocrystalline 4H SiC with various concentrations of uncompensated N donors from 10^17 cm^-3 to 5x10^19 cm^-3 by continuous wave, pulsed EPR, and microwave perturbation techniques at T=4.2-300 K. At low temperatures two triplets due to N donors in cubic (Nk) hexagonal (Nh) positions and triplet arisen from spin-interaction between Nh and Nk were observed in 4H SiC having Nd-Na=10^17 cm^-3. A single S-line (S=1/2) dominates the EPR spectra in all investigated 4H SiC monocrystals at high temperatures. It was established that this line occurs due to the exchange coupling of localized electrons (dominate at low temperatures) and non-localized electrons (dominate at high temperatures). The localized electrons were attributed to Nh for Nd-Na=10^17 cm^-3 and Nk donors for Nd-Na>=5x10^18 cm^-3. We have concluded that the conduction electrons in 4H SiC monocrystals are characterized by gpar=2.0053(3) gper=2.0011(3) for Nd-Na<=5x10^18 cm^-3 and gpar=2.0057(3) and gper=2.0019(3) for Nd-Na=5x10^19 cm^-3. Using the theoretical fitting of the temperature variation of S-line EPR linewidth in 4H SiC having Nd-Na<5x10^18 cm-^3, the energy levels of 57-65 meV that correlate with the valley-orbit splitting values for Nk donors in 4H SiC monocrystals were obtained.