title: Optical spectroscopy study of damage induced in 4H-SiC by swift heavy ion irradiation.
abstract: Single crystals of 4H-SiC were irradiated with swift heavy ions (332 MeV Ti, 106 MeV Pb and 2.7 GeV U) in the electronic energy loss regime. The resulting damage was investigated with UV-visible optical absorption spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The evolution of the Raman data with fluence shows an accumulation of isolated point defects without amorphization of the material and a partial recrystallization of the structure, but only at the lowest fluence. Furthermore, the longitudinal optical phonon-plasmon coupling mode disappears upon irradiation, suggesting a strong perturbation of the electronic structure. This evolution is consistent with the optical bandgap decrease and the Urbach edge broadening that was also previously observed for the irradiation with 4 MeV Au ions.
authors.affiliation: Université Bordeaux 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, CENBG, Chemin du Solarium, BP120, 33175 Gradignan, France. sorieul@cenbg.in2p3.fr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sorieul
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kerbiriou
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Costantini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gosmain
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calas
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trautmann