Carrier dynamics of silicon vacancies of SiC under simultaneous optically and electrically excitations

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an important wide bandgap semiconductor used for diverse applications from heat spreading to high-power electronics. It is readily doped, has high thermal conductivity, and is used for application in mature device fabrication techniques. To improve the performance of SiC electronic devices, built-in sensors, which should ideally be inexpensive integrated with the device, and not perturb device operations, are quite useful. Here, we studied the optical properties of the negatively silicon vacancy under simultaneous optical and electrical excitation to uncover the carrier dynamics, as the luminescence intensity is determined by competition between the two excitation pathways. We also observe optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and observe that the ODMR contrast is decreased by injected current, which is consistent with the decrease in the pumping rate of optical excitation in the competitive process. Our studies show that an embedded quantum sensor is possible in practical SiC devices, opening new opportunities for device control and optimization.