Determination of the core-structure of shockley partial dislocations in 4H-SiC

Synchrotron x-ray topographs taken using basal plane reflections indicate that the electron-hole recombination activated Shockley partial dislocations in 4H silicon carbide bipolar devices appear as either white stripes with dark contrast bands at both edges or dark lines. In situ electroluminescence observations indicated that the mobile partial dislocations correspond to the white stripes in synchrotron x-ray topographs, while immobile partial dislocations correspond to the dark lines. Computer simulation based on ray-tracing principle indicates that the contrast variation of the partial dislocations in x-ray topography is determined by the position of the extra atomic half planes associated with the partial dislocations lying along their Peierls valley directions. The chemical structure of the Shockley partial dislocations can be subsequently determined unambiguously and non-destructively.