Electronic band structure of the buried SiO2/SiC interface investigated by soft x-ray ARPES

Abstract

© 2017 Author(s). The electronic structure of the SiO 2 /SiC (0001) interface, buried below SiO 2 layers with a thickness from 2 to 4 nm, was explored using soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with photon energies between 350 and 1000 eV. The measurements have detected the characteristic k-dispersive energy bands of bulk Silicon Carbide (SiC) below the SiO 2 layer without any sign of additional dispersive states, up to an estimated instrumental sensitivity of ≈5 × 10 9 cm 2 eV. This experimental result supports the physical picture that the large density of interface traps observed in macroscopic measurements results from dangling bonds randomized by the SiO 2 rather than from Shockley-Tamm surface derived states extending into the bulk SiC.

Publication
Appl. Phys. Lett.