Atomic and electronic structure of stacking faults on the {11¯02} plane in 4H‐SiC

Abstract 4H‐SiC epitaxial layers often contain an extended defect called “carrot”, which is considered to consist of three partial dislocations and two stacking faults on the basal and prismatic planes. However, the atomic and electronic structures of the prismatic fault have not yet been revealed. In this study, the prismatic fault was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and first‐principles calculations. TEM observations showed that the prismatic fault is composed of stacking faults on the and planes in a zigzag pattern. Theoretical calculations based on experimental results revealed that the fault vector of the stacking fault is . This stacking fault generates some defect levels within the bandgap of 4H‐SiC, which are associated with trigonal planar atomic configurations formed by the stacking fault.