The role of boron related defects in limiting charge carrier lifetime in 4H–SiC epitaxial layers

One of the main challenges in realizing 4H–SiC (silicon carbide)-based bipolar devices is the improvement of minority carrier lifetime in as-grown epitaxial layers. Although Z1/2 has been identified as the dominant carrier lifetime limiting defect, we report on B-related centers being another dominant source of recombination and acting as lifetime limiting defects in 4H–SiC epitaxial layers. Combining time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurement in near band edge emission and 530 nm, deep level transient spectroscopy, and minority carrier transient spectroscopy (MCTS), it was found that B related deep levels in the lower half of the bandgap are responsible for killing the minority carriers in n-type, 4H–SiC epitaxial layers when the concentration of Z1/2 is already low. The impact of these centers on the charge carrier dynamics is investigated by correlating the MCTS results with temperature-dependent TRPL decay measurements. It is shown that the influence of shallow B acceptors on the minority carrier lifetime becomes neutralized at temperatures above ∼422 K. Instead, the deep B related acceptor level, known as the D-center, remains active until temperatures above ∼570 K. Moreover, a correlation between the deep level concentrations, minority carrier lifetimes, and growth parameters indicates that intentional nitrogen doping hinders the formation of deep B acceptor levels. Furthermore, tuning growth parameters, including growth temperature and C/Si ratio, is shown to be crucial for improving the minority carrier lifetime in as-grown 4H–SiC epitaxial layers.