Materials Science Forum, Vol.483, 369-372, 2005
Recombination enhanced defect annealing in 4H-SiC
Recombination enhanced defect annealing of intrinsic defects in 4H-SiC, created by low energy electron irradiation, has been observed. A reduction the defect concentration at temperature lower than the normal annealing temperature of 400° C and 800° C is observed after either above bandgap laser excitation or forward biasing of a pin-diode. The presence of the defects has been studied both electrically and optically using capacitance transient spectroscopy and low temperature photoluminescence. Photoluminescence measurements show that several lines, normally detected after electron irradiation, have almost or entirely disappeared by recombination enhanced annealing at room temperature. From capacitance transient measurements, the annealing enhancement is found to be largest for the HS2 hole trap, while the EH1 and EH3 electron traps also anneal out by recombination enhanced reaction but at a lower rate.