Investigation of the electrical activity of partial dislocations in SiC p-i-n diodes

The electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) mode of scanning electron microscopy was employed to investigate the nucleation and development of stacking faults (SFs) during forward high current stress operation of 4H–SiC p-i-n diodes. The EBIC technique is shown to be a valuable tool for the visualization and analysis of mobile and immobile partial dislocations bounding the SFs and their recombination activity. Both Si and C core partial dislocations exhibit similar EBIC contrast. It is shown that threading edge dislocations can be one source of SF generation leading to the degradation of p-i-n diodes.