Electrical characteristics and deep-level transient spectroscopy of a fast-neutron-irradiated 4H-SiC Schottky barrier diode

The dependence of the electrical characteristics on the fast neutron fluence of an epitaxial 4HeSiC Schottky barrier diode (SBD) was investigated. The 30 MeV cyclotron was used for fast neutron irradiation. The neutron fluences evaluated through Monte Carlo simulation were in the 2.7 x 10¹¹ to 1.45 x 10¹³ neutrons/cm² range. Currentevoltage and capacitanceevoltage measurements were performed to characterize the samples by extracting the parameters of the irradiated SBDs. Neutron-induced defects in the epitaxial layer were identified and quantified using a deep-level transient spectroscopy measurement system developed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. As the neutron fluence increased from 2.7 x 10¹¹ to 1.45 x 10¹³ neutrons/cm², the concentration of the Z_1/2 defects increased by approximately 20 times. The maximum defect concentration was estimated as 1.5 x 10¹⁴ cm^-3 at a neutron fluence of 1.45 x 10¹³ neutrons/cm²