Silicon carbide is a very promising semiconductor material for high-power, highrequency, and high-temperature applications. SiC distinguishes from traditional narrow bandgap semiconductors, such as silicon, in that common doping impurities in SiC have activation energies larger than the thermal energy kT even at room temperature. This causes incomplete ionization of such impurities, which leads to strong temperature and frequency dependence of the semiconductor junction differential admittance and, if carrier freeze-out effects are not taken into account, errors in doping profiles calculated from capacitance-voltage data. Approaches commonly used to study the influence of incomplete impurity ionization on the junction admittance are based on the truncated space charge approximation and/or the small-signal approximation. The former leads to impurity ionization time constant and occupation number errors, while the latter fails if the measurement ac signal amplitude is larger than kT/q. In this work, a new reverse bias Schottky junction admittance model valid for the general case of an arbitrary temperature, measurement signal frequency and amplitude, and doping occupation number and time constant distributions is developed. Results of junction admittance calculations using the developed model are compared with the results of traditional models. Based on the general model, a new method of admittance spectroscopy data analysis is created and used to determine impurity parameters more accurately than allowed by traditional approaches. Incomplete impurity ionization is investigated for the case of nitrogen donors and aluminum and boron acceptors in 4H- and 6H-SiC. It is shown that the degree of carrier freeze-out is significant in heavily N-doped 6H-SiC and in Al- and B-doped SiC. Frequency dispersion of the junction admittance is shown to be significant at room temperature in N- and B-doped SiC. Junction capacitance calculations as a function of applied dc bias show that calculated doping profiles deviate from the actual impurity concentration profiles if the impurity ionization time constant is comparable with the ac signal period. This is the case for N- and B-doped SiC with certain values of the impurity activation energy and capture cross-section. Validity of the new model and its predictions are successfully tested on experimental admittance data for N- and B-doped SiC Schottky diodes.

EDELWEISS est une expérience de détection directe de matière noire froide non-baryonique sous forme de particules massives et faiblement interagissantes (connues sous l'acronyme de WIMPs), qui constituent actuellement les candidats les plus populaires pour rendre compte de la masse manquante de l'Univers. Dans ce but, EDELWEISS utilise des bolomètres de germanium opérés à température cryogénique (20 mK environ) dans le Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM) à la frontière franco-italienne. En particulier, depuis 2008, un nouveau type de détecteur est en fonctionnement, équipé d'électrodes concentriques pour optimiser le rejet des évènements de surface (détecteurs à grilles coplanaires). Cette thèse se décompose en plusieurs axes de recherche. Tout d'abord, nous avons réalisé des mesures concernant la collecte des charges dans les cristaux. Les lois de vitesse des porteurs (électrons et trous) ont été déterminées dans le germanium à 20 mK dans la direction <100>, et une étude complète de la répartition des charges a été menée, avec une évaluation de l'anisotropie du transport et de la diffusion transverse des porteurs. Ces résultats permettent d'avoir une meilleure compréhension du fonctionnement interne des détecteurs d'Edelweiss. Ensuite, des études portant sur l'amélioration des performances ont été effectuées. Nous avons en particulier permis d'optimiser la procédure de régénération des cristaux et améliorer le rejet passif des évènements de surface (β). Le volume utile de détection des détecteurs a été évalué en utilisant les raies de deux radio-isotopes activés cosmiquement, le 68Ge et le 65Zn. Enfin, une étude exhaustive portant sur l'étude des spectres à basse énergie a été menée, ce qui permet de mettre au point une méthode d'analyse systématique pour la recherche de WIMPs de basse masse dans EDELWEISS. / EDELWEISS is a direct non-baryonic cold dark matter detection experiment in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (also known as WIMPs), which currently constitute the most popular candidates to account for the missing mass in the Universe. To this purpose, EDELWEISS uses germanium bolometers at cryogenic temperature (20 mK approximately) in the Underground Laboratory of Modane (LSM) at the French-Italian border. Since 2008, a new type of detector is operated, equipped with concentric electrodes to optimize the rejection of surface events (coplanar-grid detectors). This thesis work is divided into several research orientations. First, we carried out measurements concerning charge collection in the crystals. The velocity laws of the carriers (electrons and holes) have been determined in germanium at 20 mK in the <100> orientation, and a complete study of charge sharing has been done, including an evaluation of the transport anisotropy and of the straggling of the carriers. These results lead to a better understanding of the inner properties of the EDELWEISS detectors. Then, studies relating to the improvement of the performances were carried out. In particular, we have optimized the space-charge cancellation procedure in the crystals and improved the passive rejection of surface events (β). The fiducial volume of the detectors has been evaluated using two X-ray lines from cosmically activated radionuclides: 68Ge and 65Zn. Lastly, an exhaustive study of the low energy spectra has been carried out, which makes it possible to develop a systematic analysis method for the search of low-mass WIMPs in EDELWEISS.