Optical Access to the Electronic Nature of Device-Relevant Dislocations in High-Purity Semi-Insulating SiC.

Authors

Hsiu-Ming Hsu, Irwan Saleh Kurniawan, Russel Cruz Sevilla, Ruth Jeane Soebroto, Sheng-Hsiung Chang, Troy Tsai, Hsiu-Ying Huang, Wen-Chung Li, Chi-Tsu Yuan

Published in

ACS omega. Volume 11. Issue 26. Pages 38814-38822. Jul 07, 2026. Epub Jun 25, 2026.

Abstract

High-purity semi-insulating silicon carbide (HPSI-SiC) is a high-end substrate for power devices. However, both electrical and optical characterization of threading dislocations (TDs) remains challenging because of its low free-carrier concentration and abundant compensating deep-level defects. Here, we develop an optical technique for the selective identification and electronic characterization of device-relevant TDs with continuously distributed deep-level states. By employing partially etched TDs, TD types can be resolved through laser backscattering from etch-pit morphology, while their electronic activity is assessed via deep-level photoluminescence (PL) from the underlying dislocation lines. Statistical one-to-one structural-electronic correlation reveals that only a small fraction of pure screw-type TDs exhibits broadband deep-level emission, which is attributed to inherent dislocation-core states. These deep-level TDs may potentially form leakage-current pathways through trap-assisted mechanisms. Our work demonstrates a nondestructive PL-active approach for optically identifying deep-level TDs in HPSI-SiC.

PMID:
42428887
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Jul 2026.

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