Displacement damage effects on the forward bias characteristics of SiC Schottky barrier power diodes

Commercial SiC Schottky barrier power diodes have been subjected to 203 MeV proton irradiation and the effects of the resultant displacement damage on the I-V characteristics have been observed. The diodes show excellent resistance to radiation damage. Changes in forward and reverse bias I-V characteristics are reported for irradiated 4H SiC commercial Schottky barrier diodes at fluences up to 2.5×10¹⁴ p/cm². Small changes are seen in the reverse bias I-V characteristics with the reverse leakage actually decreasing with increasing irradiation fluence. In forward bias, the series resistance is observed to increase as the fluence increases. The changes in series resistance are interpreted as being due to changes in the effective dopant density due to carrier removal by the defects produced.