Photoluminescence study of oxidation-induced faults in 4H-SiC epilayers

We investigated the effect of thermal oxidation on crystalline faults in 4H-SiC epilayers using photoluminescence imaging. We found that a comb-shaped dislocation array was deformed by thermal oxidation. We also found that line-shaped faults perpendicular to the off-cut direction were formed during oxidation and were stretched and increased with the oxidation time. Since these line-shaped faults were peculiar to the oxidation and stretched/increased with the oxide growth, they were identified as oxidation-induced stacking faults as seen in Si oxidation.