The influence of nitrogen doping and annealing on the silicon vacancy in 4H-SiC

TL;DR

This study investigates how nitrogen doping and annealing affect the optical and magnetic properties of silicon vacancies in 4H-SiC, revealing enhancements in photoluminescence and ODMR contrast relevant for quantum applications.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of nitrogen doping and annealing on silicon vacancy properties in 4H-SiC, including charge state control and improved ODMR contrast.

Findings

Nitrogen doping enhances photoluminescence depending on electron irradiation dose.

Doping increases ODMR contrast from 0.5% to 1.5%.

Doping and annealing slightly reduce dephasing times but improve sensitivity.

Abstract

The silicon vacancy ($V_{Si}$) in 4H-SiC at its cubic site (V2-center) has shown significant promise for quantum technologies, due to coherent spin states, the mature material system, and stable optical emission. In these SiC-based applications, doping plays a crucial role. It can be used to control the charge state of $V_{Si}$ and formation of different types of defects. Despite its importance, there has been little research on the effects of doping. In this work, we perform a study of the effects of nitrogen doping and annealing on the photoluminescence (PL), optically-detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) contrast, and dephasing times of ensembles of V2 in epilayers of 4H-SiC. The results show an enhancement of PL that depends on the electron irradiation dose for a given electron concentration, supported by theoretical modeling of the charge state of $V_{Si}$ in the presence of nitrogen. Nitrogen substituted for carbon is shown to very efficiently donate one electron to $V_{Si}$. We also observe that the ODMR contrast can be increased from 0.5% in low doped SiC to 1.5% by nitrogen doping of $10^{17}$ to $10^{18}$ cm$^{-3}$ and annealing at 500-600 $^{\circ}$C for 1 hour, with only a 20% decrease in PL compared to unannealed. Some of the improvement in contrast is offset by a reduction in $T_2^*$ at these doping levels, but the estimated cw ODMR shot-noise limited sensitivity is still 1.6 times higher than that of undoped, unannealed SiC.