Mapping of Defects in Large-Area Silicon Carbide Wafers via Photoluminescence and its Correlation with Synchrotron White Beam X-Ray Topography

Abstract

Comparative studies of defect microstructure in 4H-SiC wafers have been carried out using photoluminescence (PL) imaging and grazing-incidence Synchrotron White Beam X-ray Topography. Images of low angle grain boundaries on the PL images correlate well with SWBXT observations, and similar correlation can be established for some micropipe images although the latter is complicated by the overall level of distortion and misorientation associated with the low angle grain boundaries and the fact that many of the micropipes are located in or close to the boundaries. This validation indicates that PL imaging may provide a rapid way of imaging such defect structures in large-scale SiC wafers.