Investigation of the SiO2-SiC interface using low energy muon spin rotation spectroscopy

Abstract

Using positive muons as local probes implanted at low energy enables gathering information about the material of interest with nanometer depth resolution (low energy muon spin rotation spectroscopy (LE-$\mu$SR). In this work, we leverage the capabilities of LE-$\mu$SR to perform an investigation of the SiO$_\text{2}$-SiC interface. Thermally oxidized samples are investigated before and after annealing in nitric oxide (NO) and argon (Ar) ambience. Thermal oxidation is found to result in structural changes both in the SiC crystal close to the interface and at the interface itself. Annealing in NO environment is known to passivate the defects leading to a reduction of the density of interface traps (D$_{it}$); LE-$\mu$SR further reveals that the NO annealing results in a thin layer of high carrier concentration in SiC, extending to more than 50 nm depending on the annealing conditions. We also see indications of Si vacancy (V$_{Si}$) formation in SiC after thermal oxidation. Following NO annealing, nitrogen occupies the V$_{Si}$ sites, leading to the reduction in D$_{it}$ and at the same time, creating a charge-carrier-rich region near the interface. By comparing the LE-$\mu$SR data from a sample with known doping density, we perform a high-resolution quantification of the free carrier concentration near the interface after NO annealing and discuss the origin of observed near-surface variations. Finally, the depletion of carriers in a MOS capacitor in the region below the interface is shown using LE-$\mu$SR. The NO annealed sample shows the narrowest depletion region, likely due to the reduced D$_{it}$ and charge-carrier-rich region near the interface. Our findings demonstrate the many benefits of utilizing LE-$\mu$SR to study critical regions of semiconductor devices that have been inaccessible with other techniques while retaining nanoscale depth resolution and a non-destructive approach.