NRL expert to talk about SiC defects
Bob Stahlbush will discuss using ultraviolet photoluminescence (UVPL) imaging techniques to understand SiC device yield, performance and reliability
The potential of SiC power devices to deliver better performance than silicon power devices has become a commercial reality. Compared to silicon, SiC has a three times larger bandgap, a ten times higher breakdown field, and three times higher thermal conductivity.
A crucial factor behind the commercially viability of SiC power devices has been the reduction of extended defects within the active volume of SiC devices. Bob Stahlbush of the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is an expert in this area. He will be speaking about his research on Wednesday 4th December 2019 through PowerAmerica institute's monthly webinar.
In the webinar 'Origins and Effects of BPDs (basal plane dislocations) and Other Extended Defects on SiC Power Devices' Stahlbush will look at defects and their effects on device yield, performance and reliability referencing the ultraviolet photoluminescence (UVPL) imaging technique he has developed in the NRL lab.
He will show UVPL images of extended defects including basal plane dislocations (BPDs), in-grown stacking faults, inclusions, low-angle grain boundaries, and trapezoidal defects. He will talk about the origin of these defects as well as their effect on device yield and reliability. BPDs are interesting because there are multiple mechanisms for creating them, and they have the strongest effect on device reliability.
Stahlbush received his BA in Physics from Clark University and his PhD in Physics from Cornell University. After a post-doctoral fellowship at NIST, he joined the Naval Research Laboratory. In 2000, he started studying extended defects in SiC and has concentrated on measurements that identify these defects and examine how adversely affect the yield, performance and reliability of SiC power devices.
Among his accomplishments is the development of the whole-wafer, non- destructive ultraviolet photoluminescence (UVPL) technique for imaging extended defects. In the last couple of years this technique has become an industry standard for screening these defects in SiC wafers before and during device fabrication. He has over 200 publications that have been cited over 3,000 times.
