Carrier lifetime control of 4H-SiC epitaxial layers by boron doping

An epitaxial growth technique for 4H-SiC with B doping was developed to control the carrier lifetimes of the epilayers. A linear relationship was observed between the B doping concentration and the flow rate of tri-ethyl-boron, which was used as the B doping source. A room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of a N- and B-doped epilayer showed a broad B-related peak at 2.37 eV instead of a band-edge luminescence, which indicates that the carrier recombination path was changed by the B doping. The minority carrier lifetime decreased (<; 30 ns at 250°C) with increasing B doping concentration. The thermal stability of the short carrier lifetime was compared with a conventional carrier lifetime reduction method, namely an electron irradiation technique. After thermal annealing at 1700°C, the carrier lifetime of the electron irradiated epilayer recovered while that of the B-doped epilayer remained, indicating that the carrier lifetime controlled by the B doping technique was more stable against the thermal processes.