Lifetime Investigations of 4H-SiC PiN Power Diodes

Lifetime measurements are performed on 4H-SiC pin power diodes (6.5 kV). The lifetime values in the base range from 1.1 s to 2.1 s; these values demonstrate the high quality of the 4H-SiC epilayer and the optimized device processing. The observed lifetimes are correlated with deep defect centers detected by deep level transient spectroscopy. The role of the Z1/2-center as a lifetime killer is discussed.