  In spite of its great promises for energy efficient power conversion, the
electronic quality of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) on silicon is currently
limited by the presence of a variety of extended defects in the heteroepitaxial
material. However, the specific role of the different defects on the electronic
transport is still under debate. In this work, a macro- and nano-scale
characterization of Schottky contacts on 3C-SiC/Si was carried out, to
elucidate the impact of the anti-phase-boundaries (APBs) and stacking-faults
(SFs) on the forward and reverse current-voltage characteristics of these
devices. Current mapping of 3C-SiC by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM)
directly showed the role of APBs as the main defects responsible of the reverse
bias leakage, while both APBs and SFs were shown to work as preferential
current paths under forward polarization. Distinct differences between these
two kinds of defects were also confirmed by electronic transport simulations of
a front-to-back contacted SF and APB. These experimental and simulation results
provide a picture of the role played by different types of extended defects on
the electrical transport in vertical or quasi-vertical devices based on
3C-SiC/Si, and can serve as a guide for improving material quality by defects
engineering.
