The effect of NO annealing on the electronic structures of the 4H-SiC(0001)/SiO₂ interface with atomic-scale steps is investigated. The characteristic behavior of conduction band edge (CBE) states is strongly affected by the atomic configurations in the SiO₂ and the step structure, resulting in the discontinuity of the CBE states at the step edges, which prevents electrons from penetrating from the source to drain and decreases the mobile free-electron density. We found that the behavior of the CBE states becomes independent from the atomic configuration of the SiO₂ and the density of the discontinuities is reduced after NO annealing.

中文翻译：

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原子级台阶NO退火对SiC(0001)表面影响的密度泛函理论研究

研究了NO退火对原子级台阶4H-SiC(0001)/SiO ₂界面电子结构的影响。导带边缘(CBE)态的特征行为受到SiO ₂中原子构型和台阶结构的强烈影响，导致台阶边缘处CBE态的不连续性，从而阻止电子从源极渗透到漏极并降低移动自由电子密度。我们发现，CBE 态的行为变得独立于 SiO ₂的原子构型，并且 NO 退火后不连续性的密度降低。