Theoretical and experimental investigation of the atomic and electronic structures at the 4H-SiC(0001)/SiO2 interface

Density functional theory calculations are carried out to investigate the atomic and electronic structures of the 4H-SiC(0001)/SiO2 interface. We find two characteristic interface atomic structures in scanning transmission electron microscopy images: One is an interface in which the density of atoms at the first interfacial SiC bilayer is greater than that in the SiC substrate, while the other is an interface where the density of atoms at the first interfacial SiC bilayer is lower. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the difference in the scanning transmission electron microscopy images is a reflection of the atomic structures of these two interfaces. In addition, it has been reported that the floating states, which appear at the conduction band edge of a 4H-SiC(0001)/SiO2 interface, affect the electronic structure of the interface and cause marked scattering of the electrons flowing along the interface [S. Iwase, C. J. Kirkham, and T. Ono, Phys. Rev. B 95, 041302(R) (2017)]. Interestingly, we find that the floating states do not appear at the conduction band edge of one of the two interfaces. These results provide physical insights into understanding and controlling the electronic structure and carrier mobility of electronic devices using wide-band-gap semiconductors.