Semiconductor device, semiconductor device manufacturing method, inverter circuit, drive device, vehicle, and elevator

A semiconductor device, comprising:

• a silicon carbide layer having a first face having an off-angle of 00 or more and 8° or less with respect to a {0001} face and a second face opposite to the first face, having a 4H-SiC crystal structure, and the silicon carbide layer including a first silicon carbide region of p-type and a second silicon carbide region of n-type provided between the first silicon carbide region and the first face and in contact with the first face;
• a gate electrode;
• a silicon oxide layer disposed between the silicon carbide layer and the gate electrode;
• and
• a region disposed between the silicon carbide layer and the silicon oxide layer and having a nitrogen concentration of 1×1021 cm−3 or more,
• wherein the silicon carbide layer includes a first layer, a second layer, a third layer, a fourth layer, and a fifth layer,
• the first layer, the second layer, the third layer, the fourth layer, and the fifth layer are disposed from the first face towards the second face in this order, the first layer is an uppermost layer in the silicon carbide layer and in contact with the first face,
• a percentage of a first silicon atom among a plurality of silicon atoms present in the first layer is equal to or more than 90%, and
• the first silicon atom is a silicon atom occupying a site position different from a site position occupied by a silicon atom in the third layer below the first silicon atom and occupying a site position the same as a site position occupied by a silicon atom in the fifth layer below the first silicon atom.