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Imaging Of Micropipes In Silicon Carbide Under High Field Stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

G. Gradinaru ,
M. Helmi ,
Y. Khlebnikov ,
G. Korony ,
W. C. Mitchel  and
T. S. Sudarshan
G. Gradinaru
Affiliation:
ECE Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, sudarsha@ece.sc.edu
M. Helmi
Affiliation:
ECE Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, sudarsha@ece.sc.edu
Y. Khlebnikov
Affiliation:
ECE Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, sudarsha@ece.sc.edu
G. Korony
Affiliation:
ECE Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, sudarsha@ece.sc.edu
W. C. Mitchel
Affiliation:
Wright-Patterson AFB, WL/MLPO Bldg. 651, 3005 P st Ste 6, OH 45433-7707
T. S. Sudarshan
Affiliation:
ECE Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, sudarsha@ece.sc.edu
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Abstract

A new technique for investigation of the electrical effects of micropipes in single-crystal 6H-SiC is presented. The setup allows the application of a parallel or normal electric field to MSM (metal-semiconductor-metal) test structures and the visualization of light emission sites in the test gap, including light activity underneath the metal contact. A special transparent metal [indium-tin-oxide(ITO)] was chosen for the metallic contacts. A map of micropipe locations was initially obtained at zero applied field using a laser scattering method. The initial map is compared with that of light emissions at different applied fields.

Several tests on undoped and vanadium-doped (compensated) SiC, using NiCr/Au or ITO contacts, indicated the rapid activation of micropipes at relatively low fields in vertical MSM devices. A good match between the laser imaging map of micropipes at zero field and the map of field-induced light emission sites indicates that micropipes are the main current paths in vertical devices, carrying a large current density, and leading to light emissions and partial or total bulk breakdown of the test device.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 442: Symposium E – Defects in Electronic Materials II , 1996 , 643
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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