Prominent luminescence of silicon-vacancy defects created in bulk silicon carbide p–n junction diodes

We investigate fluorescent defect centers in 4H silicon carbide p–n junction diodes fabricated via aluminum-ion implantation into an n-type bulk substrate without the use of an epitaxial growth process. At room temperature, electron-irradiated p–n junction diodes exhibit electroluminescence originating from silicon-vacancy defects. For a diode exposed to an electron dose of $$1 \times 10^{18}\,{{\mathrm{cm}}}^{-2}$$ 1 × 10 18 cm - 2 at $$800\,{{\mathrm{keV}}}$$ 800 keV , the electroluminescence intensity of these defects is most prominent within a wavelength range of 400–$$1100\,{{\mathrm{nm}}}$$ 1100 nm . The commonly observed $${{\mathrm{D}}}_1$$ D 1 emission was sufficiently suppressed in the electroluminescence spectra of all the fabricated diodes, while it was detected in the photoluminescence measurements. The photoluminescence spectra also displayed emission lines from silicon-vacancy defects.