Impact of 4H-SiC Substrate Defectivity on Epilayer Injected Carrier Lifetimes

X-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curves were mapped across 4H-SiC, 3-inch, 8° off-cut substrates prior to and after epitaxial growth, where a pattern of slightly higher defectivity region was clearly seen. This same pattern was apparent in both cross-polarization images of the epiwafers and microwave photoconductivity decay (μ-PCD) lifetime maps of the epilayers, where the latter shows the lifetime in the high defectivity regions had drastically decreased. Within the short lifetime regions, electron trap concentrations were similar to that as in the long lifetime regions as determined by deep level transient spectroscopy; however, the extended defect density was significantly higher. Consequently, high spatial resolution XRD can be a valuable tool in preselecting substrates for epitaxial growth to produce low defect density material with long injected carrier lifetimes.