Publications

Sub-bandgap light-induced carrier generation at room temperature in 4H-SiC metal oxide semiconductor capacitors

Dasgupta, Sandeepan; Armstrong, Andrew A.; Kaplar, Robert K.; Marinella, Matthew J.; Brock, Reinhard; Smith, Mark A.; Atcitty, Stanley A.

Carrier generation characteristics in n-type substrate silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor capacitors induced by sub-bandgap energy light are reported. The generation rate is high enough to create an inversion layer in approximately 20 min with monochromatic front side illumination of energy 2.1 eV in 4H-SiC for electric fields less than 1 MV/cm. Generation and recovery results strongly indicate involvement of a metastable defect whose efficiency as a generation center increases under hole-rich and decreases under electron-rich conditions. The generation dependence on bias history and light energy shows the defect to have properties consistent with the metastable silicon vacancy/carbon vacancy-antisite complex (VSi/Vc-C Si). © 2011 American Institute of Physics.