Structural and electrical characteristics of oxygen-implanted 6H-SiC

Silicon carbide is an important wide band gap semiconductor for high-temper ature, high-voltage, high-power and high-frequency devices. Ion implantatio n is an important aspect for both fundamental research and device applicati ons. In this report, oxygen ions, 70 keV with dose ranging from 5 x 10(13) to 5 x 10(15) cm(-2), have been implanted into n-type BH-SIC. The damage be havior and internal stress were checked by Rutherford backscattering spectr oscopy and channeling and X-rays rocking curve, respectively. Atomic force microscope observations revealed that the surface morphology is quite sensi tive to the implantation even at a dose of 1 x 10(14)/cm(-2). After anneali ng in nitrogen at 1200 degrees C, no remarkable damage recovery could be se en if the deposit damage energy is above the critical value. Schottky struc tures of Au/SiC have been fabricated and I-V curves of metal/SiC/InGeNi wer e measured at room temperature at both forward and reverse bias, electrical isolation effect was observed at proper implantation dose. The results ind icated that there exists a dose window for electrical isolations. X-ray pho toelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the formation of silicon oxide and CO due to oxygen implantation. In case of high-dose ion implantation, graph ite phase was detected. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.