Automatic Detection of Basal Plane Dislocations in a 150-mm SiC Epitaxial Wafer by Photoluminescence Imaging and Template-matching Algorithm

In this study, an algorithm was constructed for the automatic detection of basal plane dislocations (BPDs) propagating in SiC epitaxial layers in photoluminescence images, and its performance was evaluated. The BPDs are the origin of the degradation of SiC bipolar devices caused by the expansion of stacking faults. The present automatic detection algorithm, based on the template-matching method, was confirmed to have high accuracy and precision, and we succeeded in visualizing the BPD density in 150-mm SiC epitaxial wafers. We confirmed that the template-matching method is applicable for the detection of crystalline defects with geometrically fixed shapes such as BPDs in SiC epitaxial layers.