Electron paramagnetic resonance characterization of aluminum ion implantation-induced defects in 4H-SiC

Deep-level defects in silicon carbide (SiC) are critical to the control of the performance of SiC electron devices. In this paper, deep-level defects in aluminum ion-implanted 4H-SiC after high-temperature annealing were studied using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at temperatures of 77 K and 123 K under different illumination conditions. Results showed that the main defect in aluminum ion-implanted 4H-SiC was the positively charged carbon vacancy (${V_C}^{+}$), and the higher the doping concentration was, the higher was the concentration of ${V_C}^{+}$. It was found that the type of material defect was independent of the doping concentration, although more ${V_C}^{+}$ defects were detected during photoexcitation and at lower temperatures. These results should be helpful in the fundamental research of p-type 4H-SiC fabrication in accordance with functional device development.