Field dependence of the electron drift velocity along the hexagonal axis of 4H-SiC

The forward current–voltage characteristics of mesa-epitaxial 4 H -SiC Schottky diodes are measured in high electric fields (up to 4 × 10 5 V/cm) in the n -type base region. A semi-empirical formula for the field dependence of the electron drift velocity in 4 H -SiC along the hexagonal axis of the crystal is derived. It is shown that the saturated drift velocity is (1.55 ± 0.05) × 10 7 cm/s in electric fields higher than 2 × 10 5 V/cm.