Determination of the transport properties in 4H-SiC wafers by Raman scattering measurement

The free carrier density and mobility in n-type 4H-SiC substrates and epilayers were determined by accurately analysing the frequency shift and the full-shape of the longitudinal optic phonon–plasmon coupled (LOPC) modes, and compared with those determined by Hall-effect measurement and that provided by the vendors. The transport properties of thick and thin 4H-SiC epilayers grown in both vertical and horizontal reactors were also studied. The free carrier density ranges between 2×10¹⁸ cm^-3 and 8×10¹⁸ cm^-3 with a carrier mobility of 30–55 cm²/(V·s) for n-type 4H-SiC substrates and 1×10¹⁶–3×10¹⁶ cm^-3 with mobility of 290–490 cm²/(V·s) for both thick and thin 4H-SiC epilayers grown in a horizontal reactor, while thick 4H-SiC epilayers grown in vertical reactor have a slightly higher carrier concentration of around 8.1×10¹⁶ cm^-3 with mobility of 380 cm²/(V·s). It was shown that Raman spectroscopy is a potential technique for determining the transport properties of 4H-SiC wafers with the advantage of being able to probe very small volumes and also being non-destructive. This is especially useful for future mass production of 4H-SiC epi-wafers.