X-ray topographic study of defects in Si-based multilayer epitaxial power devices

The X-ray methods used in the work allow revealing and identifying growth and process defects in device structures, studying their distributions, analyzing their mutual interactions and obtaining valuable information on the nature and evolution of the defects during device structure fabrication processes. This information allowed us to optimize the choice of initial materials and processes aiming to reduce the content of critical electrically active structural defects in the crystals that can influence the parameters of fabricated semiconductor devices; we also increased process yield and tangibly improved semiconductor device operation reliability in severe conditions and emergency modes.