Quantum enhanced electric field mapping within semiconductor devices

Abstract

Semiconductor components based on silicon carbide (SiC) are a key component for high-power electronics. Their behavior is determined by the interplay of charges and electric fields, which is typically described by modeling and simulations that are calibrated by nonlocal electric properties. So far, there are no experimental methods that allow for the 3D mapping of both the electric field and the concentrations of free charge carriers inside an electronic device. To fulfill this information gap, we propose an operando method that utilizes single silicon vacancy (VSi) centers in 4H-SiC. The VSi centers are at various positions in the intrinsic region of a pin-diode. To monitor the local static electric field, we perform Stark shift measurements based on photoluminescence excitation (PLE), which allows us to infer the expansion of the depletion zone and therefore to determine the local concentration of dopants. Besides this, we show that our measurements allow us to additionally obtain the local concentration of free charge carriers. The method presented here therefore paves the way for a new quantum-enhanced electronic device technology, capable of mapping the interplay of mobile charges and electric fields in a working semiconductor device with nanometer precision.

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Engineering chlorine-based emitters in silicon carbide for telecom-band quantum technologies
• Scalable registration of single quantum emitters within solid immersion lenses through femtosecond laser writing
• Impact of Surface Treatment on Noise in PL-Measurements of Silicon Vacancies in 4H-SiC Lateral pin-Diodes
• Waveguide-integrated colour centres in silicon carbide with broadband photonic crystal reflectors for efficient readout