Unraveling the Defect Physics of SiC Micropipe Sidewalls by Non-Line-of-Sight Confocal Spectromicroscopy: Amphoteric Giant Traps

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Kurniawan, Irwan Saleh, Sevilla, Russel Cruz, Soebroto, Ruth Jeane, Huang, Hsiu-Ying, Hsu, Hsiu-Ming, Shen, Ji-Lin, Chang, Sheng Hsiung, Li, Wen-Chung, Yuan, Chi-Tsu
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Kurniawan, Irwan Saleh
Sevilla, Russel Cruz
Soebroto, Ruth Jeane
Huang, Hsiu-Ying
Hsu, Hsiu-Ming
Shen, Ji-Lin
Chang, Sheng Hsiung
Li, Wen-Chung
Yuan, Chi-Tsu
author_facet Kurniawan, Irwan Saleh
Sevilla, Russel Cruz
Soebroto, Ruth Jeane
Huang, Hsiu-Ying
Hsu, Hsiu-Ming
Shen, Ji-Lin
Chang, Sheng Hsiung
Li, Wen-Chung
Yuan, Chi-Tsu
contents Micropipes are among the most detrimental defects in SiC wafer and are closely linked to catastrophic device failure. However, the microscopic defect nature of their internal sidewalls and the mechanism of the associated leakage current remain poorly understood, because their high-aspect-ratio geometry severely restricts direct optical probing. Here, we develop a non-line-of-sight confocal multiple-reflection spectromicroscopy technique combined with direct defect photoionization to unravel the defect physics of micropipe sidewalls. We show that these sidewalls host a high density of donor-like and acceptor-like deep-level states, giving rise to ultrabroad emission bands composed of intrinsic DAP-like recombination and detrapping-mediated free-to-bound transitions. Unlike conventional defect luminescence, the DAP-like emission remains dominant even at room temperature across all excitation powers. This behavior is attributed to rapid carrier capture by the sidewall defects, as evidenced by fast-rising and nanosecond-scale decay dynamics, along with coupled carrier kinetics. These results suggest that micropipe sidewalls can serve as extended amphoteric giant traps and carrier reservoirs, facilitating leakage current through trap-assisted transport. Our work provides a nondestructive optical approach for directly probing high-aspect-ratio extended defects and offers deep mechanistic insight into their defect physics and leakage mechanisms.
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institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unraveling the Defect Physics of SiC Micropipe Sidewalls by Non-Line-of-Sight Confocal Spectromicroscopy: Amphoteric Giant Traps
Kurniawan, Irwan Saleh
Sevilla, Russel Cruz
Soebroto, Ruth Jeane
Huang, Hsiu-Ying
Hsu, Hsiu-Ming
Shen, Ji-Lin
Chang, Sheng Hsiung
Li, Wen-Chung
Yuan, Chi-Tsu
Optics
Materials Science
Micropipes are among the most detrimental defects in SiC wafer and are closely linked to catastrophic device failure. However, the microscopic defect nature of their internal sidewalls and the mechanism of the associated leakage current remain poorly understood, because their high-aspect-ratio geometry severely restricts direct optical probing. Here, we develop a non-line-of-sight confocal multiple-reflection spectromicroscopy technique combined with direct defect photoionization to unravel the defect physics of micropipe sidewalls. We show that these sidewalls host a high density of donor-like and acceptor-like deep-level states, giving rise to ultrabroad emission bands composed of intrinsic DAP-like recombination and detrapping-mediated free-to-bound transitions. Unlike conventional defect luminescence, the DAP-like emission remains dominant even at room temperature across all excitation powers. This behavior is attributed to rapid carrier capture by the sidewall defects, as evidenced by fast-rising and nanosecond-scale decay dynamics, along with coupled carrier kinetics. These results suggest that micropipe sidewalls can serve as extended amphoteric giant traps and carrier reservoirs, facilitating leakage current through trap-assisted transport. Our work provides a nondestructive optical approach for directly probing high-aspect-ratio extended defects and offers deep mechanistic insight into their defect physics and leakage mechanisms.
title Unraveling the Defect Physics of SiC Micropipe Sidewalls by Non-Line-of-Sight Confocal Spectromicroscopy: Amphoteric Giant Traps
topic Optics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.04865