Vanadium doping of 4H SiC from a solid source: Photoluminescence investigation

Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to monitor the efficiency of v anadium doping from a solid vanadium nitride source during CVD growth of 4H silicon carbide. More than an order of magnitude increase of vanadium rela ted infrared photoluminescence in comparison to undoped samples was observe d. By correcting the spectra for the contribution from the substrate, vanad ium was shown to be incorporated in the epitaxial layer during CVD and was responsible for the observed differences in photoluminescence signal. Possi ble mechanisms of the vanadium transport to the growing layer and its incor poration are discussed.