Features of the Carrier Concentration Determination during Irradiation of Wide-Gap Semiconductors: The Case Study of Silicon Carbide

Abstract

In this paper, the features of radiation compensation of wide-gap semiconductors are discussed, considering the case study of silicon carbide. Two classical methods of concentration determination are compared and analyzed: capacitance-voltage (C–V) and current-voltage (I–V) characteristics. The dependence of the base resistance in high-voltage 4H-SiC Schottky diodes on the dose of irradiation by electrons and protons is experimentally traced in the range of eight orders of magnitude. It is demonstrated that the dependence of the carrier concentration on the irradiation dose can be determined unambiguously and reliably in a very wide range of compensation levels, based on the results of measuring the I–V characteristics. It is shown that the determination of the carrier removal rate using the I–V characteristics is more correct than using the C–V characteristics, especially in the case of high radiation doses.