abstract
The list of semiconductor materials with spectroscopically fingerprinted self-interstitials is very short. The M center in 4H-SiC, a bistable defect responsible for a family of electron traps, has been deprived of a model which could unveil its real importance for almost two decades. Using advanced first-principles calculations and junction spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the properties of M, including bistability, annealing, reconfiguration kinetics, and electronic levels match those of the carbon self-interstitial.
keywords
TOTAL-ENERGY CALCULATIONS; DEFECT SPIN QUBITS; INTRINSIC DEFECTS; SILICON; IDENTIFICATION
subject category
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied; Physics, Condensed Matter
authors
Coutinho, J; Gouveia, JD; Makino, T; Ohshima, T; Pastuovic, Z; Bakrac, L; Brodar, T; Capan, I
our authors
acknowledgements
This work was supported by the NATO SPS Programme through Project G5674. J.C. thanks the FCT in Portugal for support through Projects UIDB/50025/2020, UIDP/50025/2020, and CPCA/A0/7277/2020 (Advanced Computing Project using the Oblivion supercomputer). J.D.G. acknowledges the support of I3N through Grant BPD-11(5017/2018). T.O. thanks Dr. Hidekazu Tsuchida and Dr. Norihiro Hoshino at CRIEPI for growing the 4H-SiC epitaxial layers. Z.P. acknowledges the financial support of the Australian Government to the CAS of ANSTO through the NCRIS.