SHALLOW DONOR LEVELS AND THE CONDUCTION-BAND EDGE STRUCTURES IN POLYTYPES OF SIC

This study focuses on the calculation of conduction band edge structur es and nitrogen (N) donor levels in four polytypes of SiC: 3C, 2H, 4H, and 6H. A band-structure-based theory and a model potential are devel oped for the donor level calculation. A hybrid pseudo-potential and ti ght-binding Hamiltonian is used to obtain a set of comprehensive band structures for these four polytypes by incorporating useful experiment al information in the band-structure calculation. The conduction band edge wave functions derived from these band structures and several set s of theoretical and experimental effective masses are then used to st udy the various effects on the donor level, which include anisotropic masses, central cell potential correction, conduction band edge wave f unctions, and intervalley coupling. With suitable sets of effective ma sses, the calculated donor energies agree semi-quantitatively with tho se deduced from experiments. The site dependence of the donor energies in 4H and GH is found to be dominated by the conduction band wave fun ctions and the intervalley coupling.