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

Silicon carbide is an important wide band gap semiconductor for high-temperature, high-voltage, high-power and high-frequency devices. Ion implantation is an important aspect for both fundamental research and device applications. 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 behavior and internal stress were checked by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and channeling and X-rays rocking curve, respectively. Atomic force microscope observations revealed that the surface morphology is quite sensitive to the implantation even at a dose of 1 x 10(14)/cm(-2). After annealing in nitrogen at 1200 degrees C, no remarkable damage recovery could be seen if the deposit damage energy is above the critical value. Schottky structures of Au/SiC have been fabricated and I-V curves of metal/SiC/InGeNi were measured at room temperature at both forward and reverse bias, electrical isolation effect was observed at proper implantation dose. The results indicated that there exists a dose window for electrical isolations. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the formation of silicon oxide and CO due to oxygen implantation. In case of high-dose ion implantation, graphite phase was detected. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.