Ultraviolet and visible photodetection using 3C-SiC/Si hetero-epitaxial junction

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the prospect of using a 3C-SiC/Si heterostructure as an ultraviolet and visible photodetector. The heterojunction has been grown epitaxially on Si-substrate via a Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition technique at 1000 °C. The detector shows a good diode characteristic with a rectification ratio of 1.03 × 103 and a reverse leakage current of 7.2 × 10−6 A at 2 V in dark conditions. The responsivity of the device is found to be 5.4 × 10−2 A/W and 3.18 × 10−2 A/W at a reverse bias of 2 V under visible (635 nm) and UV (375 nm) illumination, respectively. An energy band diagram is proposed to explain the photosensitivity of the heterostructure.