Energy levels of carbon dangling-bond center (PbC center) at 4H-SiC(0001)/SiO2 interface
Mitsuru Sometani,
Yusuke Nishiya,
Ren Kondo,
Rei Inohana,
Hongyu Zeng,
Hirohisa Hirai,
Dai Okamoto,
Yu-ichiro Matsushita,
Takahide Umeda
Affiliations
Mitsuru Sometani
Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan
Yusuke Nishiya
Institute for Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Ren Kondo
Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Rei Inohana
Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Hongyu Zeng
Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Hirohisa Hirai
Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan
Dai Okamoto
Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Yu-ichiro Matsushita
Institute for Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Takahide Umeda
Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
The electric properties of the carbon dangling-bond (PbC) center at a thermally oxidized 4H-SiC(0001)/SiO2 interface are investigated. We experimentally and theoretically determine the energy levels of the associated interface states to estimate the impacts of the PbC center on power device operations. By combining electrically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy and capacitance–voltage measurements, the two PbC electronic levels [(0/−) and (+/0)] are determined as ∼1.2 and 0.6 eV from the valence band maximum, respectively. The effective correlation energy of the PbC center is 0.6 eV, which is 1.5 times larger than that of the silicon dangling-bond (Pb) center at Si/SiO2 interfaces. Our first-principles calculations confirm that the electronic levels of PbC are similar to experimental values. Considering these energy levels, the PbC center must impact both p- and n-channel devices, which is closely related to previously reported channel features.
