Conduction mechanism and UV/visible photodetection properties of p-Si/n-SiC heterostructure

• Published in: Optical and quantum electronics 2023-04, Vol.55 (4), Article 375
• Main Authors: Şakar, Betül Ceviz, Yıldırım, Fatma, Orhan, Zeynep, Aydoğan, Ş.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Computer Communication Networks; Electrical Engineering; Heterojunctions; Heterostructures; Lasers; Optical Devices; Optical properties; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Stability tests; Stacking faults; Ultraviolet radiation
• ISSN: 0306-8919; 1572-817X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11082-023-04571-9

This study examines the electrical and optical properties of p-Si/n-SiC heterojunctions subjected to UV and visible light in addition to the conduction mechanism of the device. The surfaces of the sputtered SiC film was analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The rectification ratio of the heterojunction was determined as 1.4 × 10 3 in the dark. In addition, the device exhibited good rectification under all lights. In stability tests of the device, an improvement in characteristics was observed in I–V measurements after 67 days, and this was attributed to carbon migration or stacking faults between Si and SiC, the interface modification and interfacial states. Since the band gap of SiC is suitable for UV detection, it was observed that the photoresponse under UV was quite good. Responsivity, detectivity, ON/OFF ratio and EQE values were analyzed as the function of applied voltage. It was observed that the device exhibited the best performance especially under 365 nm UV light. The responsivity and detectivity of the device are found to be ~ 5 A/W and 7.6 × 10 11 Jones, respectively under UV (365 nm) illumination, respectively.