Electron trapping effects in SiC Schottky diodes: Review and comment

SiC devices exhibit a number of detrimental second order effects which are caused by electrically active traps. The majority of studies into traps in SiC devices have been for SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices. Other devices, such as the SiC Schottky diode, have been investigated less. However, traps can still impact SiC Schottky diodes; carrier exchange with traps can create greater-than-unity ideality factors and can cause barrier height instability. Understanding these effects is important for the continued improvement of diode performance and for device/circuit modeling purposes. Therefore, this paper reviews the state of knowledge for traps in SiC Schottky diodes. We also comment on practical impacts of these effects, techniques for detection/measurement, and alternative models where appropriate.