Only a few years ago, an account of degradation of silicon carbide high-voltage p-i-n diodes was presented at the European Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Compounds (Kloster Banz, Germany, 2000). This report was followed by the intense effort of multiple groups... (Read more)

Silicon carbide (SiC) has a range of useful physical, mechanical and electronic properties that make it a promising material for next-generation electronic devices^1,2. Careful consideration of the thermal conditions^3-6 in which SiC {0001} is grown has resulted in improvements in crystal diameter and quality: the quantity of macroscopic defects such as hollow core dislocations (micropipes)^7-9, inclusions, small-angle boundaries and longrange lattice warp has been reduced^10,11. But some macroscopic defects (about 1–10 cm^-2) and a large density of elementary dislocations (,10⁴ cm^-2), such as edge, basal plane and screw dislocations, remain within the crystal, and have so far prevented the realization of high-efficiency, reliable electronic devices in SiC (refs 12–16). Here we report a method, inspired by the dislocation structure of SiC grown perpendicular to the c-axis (a-face growth)¹⁷, to reduce the number of dislocations in SiC single crystals by two to three orders of magnitude, rendering them virtually dislocation-free. These substrates will promote the development of high-power SiC devices and reduce energy losses of the resulting electrical systems. (Read more)

The driving force of stacking-fault expansion in SiC p–i–n diodes was investigated using optical emission microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The stacking-fault expansion and properties of the partial dislocations were inconsistent with any stress as the... (Read more)

The velocity v of dislocation half-loops introduced into swirl-free floating-zone grown undoped silicon has been measured at 420°C in the resolved shear stress range 30 <τ<300 MPa. Clearly impurity atoms interact with dislocations in this material. Using the starting value of v we found the two types of 60° dislocations, which are distinguished by the sequence of their partials, to have different velocities. Furtheron the velocity depends not only on τ, but also on the elastic strain of the lattice. In the second part the papers review EPR spectroscopy of plastically deformed silicon and collects new results on the activity of dislocations in this material as trapping / recombination centers (decay of photo-EPR, photoluminescence, EBIC microscopy and photoplastic effect). (Read more)

In silicon an EPR signal is produced by plastic deformation. The annealing behavior of this signal has been investigated, and the dislocation density and structure has been studied by the etch pit technique and by electron microscopy. The EPR-signal anneals in one stage with an activation energy of... (Read more)