Oxidation-Induced Deep Levels in n - And p -Type 4H - And 6H -SiC and Their Influence on Carrier Lifetime

We present a complete analysis of the electron- and hole-capture and -emission processes of the deep levels ON1, ON2a, and ON2b in 4H-SiC and their 6H-SiC counterparts OS1a and OS1b through OS3a and OS3b, which are produced by lifetime enhancement oxidation or implantation and annealing techniques. The modeling is based on a simultaneous numerical fitting of multiple high-resolution capacitance deep-level transient spectroscopy spectra measured with different filling-pulse lengths in n- and p-type material. All defects are found to be double-donor-type positive-U two-level defects with very small hole-capture cross sections, making them recombination centers of low efficiency, in accordance with minority-carrier-lifetime measurements. Their behavior as trapping and weak recombination centers, their large concentrations resulting from the lifetime enhancement oxidations, and their high thermal stability, however, make it advisable to minimize their presence in active regions of devices, for example, the base layer of bipolar junction transistors.