Estimation of near-interface oxide trap density at SiO2/SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor interfaces by transient capacitance measurements at various temperatures

A method for estimating near-interface oxide trap density in silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors by transient capacitance measurements was investigated. The fitting of the transient capacitance characteristics measured at room and low temperatures to a simple model describing the de-trapping process enables us to characterize the responses of the traps at various distances from the interface. The distribution of the trap locations in the oxide and that of response times were taken into account in this fitting. This method was applied to MOS-capacitor samples to show the significant reduction in interface state density by tuning the thermal oxidation conditions. It was found that the density of the oxide traps, especially in the spatially shallow region within several angstroms from the interface, is sensitive to thermal oxide growth conditions.