Impacts of single Shockley-type stacking faults on current conduction in 4H-SiC PiN diodes

The impacts of single Shockley-type stacking faults (1SSFs) on the electrical characteristics of 4H-SiC PiN diodes were examined by fabricating the PiN diodes containing the 1SSF monolayer in the active area with a covering ratio of unity and evaluating the forward current–voltage (I–V) characteristics at various temperatures from 296 to 523 K. The measured I–V characteristics were compared with the previous results for Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) containing the 1SSF monolayer. Based on the comparison, we clarified the similarity and differences between the impacts of the 1SSFs on the unipolar and bipolar conductions. The forward current conduction of the PiN diodes is limited by the 1SSF similar to that of the SBDs, while the forward current in the PiN diodes exceeds that in the SBDs at elevated temperatures. The difference was attributed to the contribution of hole and recombination currents, the insights into which were obtained by analyzing several experimental results, including dependences of the forward current on the temperature and thickness of the blocking-voltage layer. A simulation analysis was also conducted by adopting the model proposed in the previous study.