Figure 1

Passivation of localized leakage currents, passing through SFs at the as-grown 3C-SiC surface, by UV irradiation. C-AFM morphology (top) and current maps (bottom) of an as-grown 3C-SiC(111) surface at a tip bias of −2 V (a) showing localized leakage currents passing through stacking faults. The AFM morphology of the UV-irradiated 3C-SiC surface after a wet oxide etch revealed trenches in the SFs, suggesting that their passivation is due to a local oxidation at these defects. The I-V characteristics measured on Au/3C-SiC diodes with a contact radius of 20 μm exhibited greatly reduced leakage currents after passivation (c).