D. Prasai¹, W. John¹, L. Weixelbaum¹, O. Krueger¹, G. Wagner², P. Sperfeld³, S. Nowy³, D. Friedrich³, S. Winter³ and T. Weiss⁴,
¹Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut fuer Hoechstfrequenztechnik, Berlin, Germany, ²Leibniz-Institut fuer Kristallzuechtung, Berlin, Germany, ³Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig und Berlin (PTB), 4.1 Photometry and Applied Radiometry, Braunschweig, Germany, ⁴sglux GmbH, Berlin, Germany
J. Mater. Res., first view (2012).
Abstract
Highly efficient polytype 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) p–n diodes for ultraviolet (UV) light detection have been fabricated, characterized, and exposed to high-intensity mercury lamp irradiation (up to 17 mW/cm²). The behavior of the photocurrent response under UV light irradiation using a low-pressure mercury UV-C lamp (4 mW/cm²) and a medium-pressure mercury discharge lamp (17 mW/cm²) has been studied. We report on long-term UV photoaging tests performed for up to 22 mo. Results demonstrate the robustness of SiC photodiodes against UV radiation. The devices under test showed an initial burn-in effect, i.e., the photocurrent response dropped by less than 5% within the first 40 h of artificial UV aging. Such burn-in effect under UV stress was also observed for previously available polytype 6H silicon carbide (6H–SiC) p–n photodetectors. After burn-in, no measurable degradation has been detected, which makes the devices excellent candidates for high irradiance UV detector applications.