Silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as one of the most important wide band gap semiconductors for industrial electronics applications. Due to its high thermal conductivity, robustness against electric field breakdown and high temperatures and thanks to its high maximum current density, in particular for so-called power semiconductor devices, SiC is superior to Silicon.
Well-established commercial SiC devices are for example SiC Schottky diodes and MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors). These devices are e.g. applied in railway, as industrial inverters, in aerospace, for renewable energy generation by wind turbines or photovoltaics as well as in electric or hybrid cars. Companies and research institutions are still elbow deep in SiC related developments e.g. for further up-and-coming “green” projects like mobile solar energy-harvesting systems for solar-powered vehicles.
For SiC material research and development, among other techniques, FT-IR spectroscopy stands out as an easy and effective tool for the investigation of various properties. It can e.g. be applied to determine doping concentrations, layer thickness or for Phonon spectroscopy to reveal valuable information on crystal structure and quality. Photoluminescence spectroscopy can provide additional insight into e.g. band structure and charge carrier details. Studies of bandgap, excitons and other electronic features of semiconductors can be done via transmittance spectroscopy. Furthermore, impurity and defect states analysis of SiC can be an essential step of material development and quality control.
Bruker’s FT-IR R&D spectrometers of the VERTEX and INVENIO series are the systems of choice for many of the above-mentioned applications thanks to their broad spectral range from FIR to VIS/UV, best step scan specification, optional evacuated optics bench and outstanding performance. Bruker supports semiconductor research and development since decades and will further contribute, including renewable energy and other fields related to sustainability, to make the world a better place.
