A new degradation phenomenon in blue light emitting silicon carbide diodes

In 6H-SiC blue emitting diodes prepared by sawing epitaxial wafers the development of greenish striations in the luminescing layer is observed together with a decrease in external quantum efficiency. It is proposed that this degradation is due to the development of numerous stacking faults leading to an intermediate (cubic?) state of lower band gap than the 6H modification.