Muonium dynamics as a probe for depth-resolved properties of 4H-SiC

Abstract

This study establishes a baseline for muonium (Mu) charge-exchange dynamics in n-type 4H-SiC through a detailed low-energy muon spin rotation (LE-uSR) investigation. Epitaxially grown and ion-implanted samples with nitrogen and phosphorus donors were characterized to assess the effect of carrier concentration and doping method on defect formation. LE-uSR enabled nanometer scale depth profiling of near-surface and implanted regions, revealing variations in charge carrier concentration due to fixed surface charges. The temperature dependence of the diamagnetic fraction and phase provided direct evidence of the Mu0 to Mu- transition, with extracted activation energies consistent with known donor ionization energies. Additionally, high-field uSR was used to analyze the Mu dynamics, and Monte-Carlo simulations to model the Mu0 electron capture process. The simulation results offer a quantitative method to extract free electron concentrations from LE-uSR data, enhancing its capability to characterize the activation of dopants and carrier depth profiles. We demonstrate that LE-uSR is a powerful depth-resolved tool that can provide insights for optimizing the fabrication of reliable SiC devices for power electronics.