We provide evidence of shrinking of Shockley-type stacking faults (SSFs) in the SiC
epitaxial layer by high temperature annealing. Photoluminescence (PL) mapping in combination with
high-power laser irradiation makes it possible to investigate the formation of SSFs, which lie between
a pair of partial dislocations formed by dissociation of a basal plane dislocation (BPD), without
fabrication of pin diodes. Using this technique, we investigated the annealing effect on SSFs.
Comparing before and after annealing at 600°C for 10 min, it became obvious that high-temperature
annealing results in shrinking of the faulted area of the SSFs. The SSFs form into the same features as
those before annealing when high-power laser irradiation is performed again on the same area. This
result shows that the faulted area of SSFs shrinks by 600°C annealing but the nuclei of SSFs (BPDs)
do not disappear.
Observation of the shock wave propagation induced by a high-power laser irradiation into an epoxy material
