Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T10:17:12.630Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

High Voltage Silicon Carbide Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

B. Jayant Baliga
B. Jayant Baliga*
Affiliation:
Director, Power Semiconductor Research Center NCSU Centennial Campus, Box 7924 Raleigh, NC 27695.
Get access

Abstract

Progress made in the development of high performance power rectifiers and switches from silicon carbide are reviewed with emphasis on approaching the 100-fold reduction in the specific on-resistance of the drift region when compared with silicon devices with the same breakdown voltage. The highlights are: (a) Recently completed measurements of impact ionization coefficients in SiC indicate an even higher Baliga's figure of merit than projected earlier. (b) The commonly reported negative temperature co-efficient for breakdown voltage in SiC devices has been shown to arise at defects, allaying concerns that this may be intrinsic to the material. (c) Based upon fundamental considerations, it has been found that Schottky rectifiers offer superior on-state voltage drop than P-i-N rectifiers for reverse blocking voltages below 3000 volts. (d) Nearly ideal breakdown voltage has been experimentally obtained for Schottky diodes using an argon implanted edge termination. (e) Planar ion-implanted junctions have been successfully fabricated using oxide as a mask with high breakdown voltage and low leakage currents by using a filed plate edge termination. (f) High inversion layer mobility has been experimentally demonstrated on both 6H and 4H-SiC by using a deposited oxide layer as gate dielectric. (g) A novel, high-voltage, normally-off, accumulation-channel, MOSFET has been proposed and demonstrated with 50x lower specific on-resistance than silicon devices in spite of using logic-level gate drive voltages. These results indicate that SiC based power devices could become commercially viable in the 21st century if cost barriers can be overcome.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 512: Symposium F – Wide Bandgap Semiconductors for High Power, High Frequency , 1998 , 77
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

[1] Cooper, J. A., et al, Material Science Forum, Vols. 264–268, p. 895 (1998).Google Scholar
[2] Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–10, p. 455 (1989).Google Scholar
[3] Baliga, B. J., J. Appl. Phys., Vol.53, p. 1759 (1982).Google Scholar
[4] Baliga, B. J., Inst. Phys. Conf. Series, Vol.142, p. 1 (1996).Google Scholar
[5] Raghunathan, R. and Baliga, B. J., Int. Symp. Power Devices and Ics, Paper 03.2, p. 173 (1997).Google Scholar
[6] Schaffer, W. J., et al, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., Vol.339, p. 595 (1994).Google Scholar
[7] Baliga, B. J., Power Semiconductor Devices, PWS Publishing Company, Boston (1996).Google Scholar
[8} Baliga, B.J., et al, IEEE Int. Elec. Devices Meeting, Abstr. 10.6, p. 264 (1982).Google Scholar
[9] Vijay, B. and Baliga, B. J., PSRC Technical Report TR-96–048 (1996).Google Scholar
[10] Bhatnagar, M. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–13, p. 501 (1992).Google Scholar
[11] Alok, D. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–15, p. 394 (1994).Google Scholar
[12] Raghunathan, R. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–16, p. 226 (1995).Google Scholar
[13] Alok, D. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, Vol. ED–43, p. 1315 (1996).Google Scholar
[14] Bhatnagar, M., Baliga, B. J., Kirk, H., and Rozgonyi, G., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, Vol. ED–43, p. 150 (1996).Google Scholar
[15] Bantval, V. and Baliga, B. J., PSRC Annual Review Report, p. 101 (1996).Google Scholar
[16] Schroder, C., et al, Appl. Phys. Letters, Vol.68, p. 1597 (1996).Google Scholar
[17] Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–5, p. 194 (1984).Google Scholar
[18] Held, R., Kaminski, N., and Niemann, E., Material Science Forum, Vols. 264–268, p. 1057 (1998).Google Scholar
[19] Dahlquist, F.,et al, Material Science Forum, Vols. 264–268, p. 1061 (1998).Google Scholar
[20] Tu, L. and Baliga, B. J., Schottky barrier rectifier including Schottky barrier regions of differing barrier heights, U.S. Patent # 5,262,668, Issued November 16, 1993.Google Scholar
[21] Praveen, M., Mahalingam, S., and Baliga, B. J., PSRC Technical Working Group Meeting Report TW-97–002-C (1997).Google Scholar
[22] Schoen, K. J., et al, Material Science Forum, Vols. 264–268, p. 945 (1998).Google Scholar
[23] Ghezzo, M., et al, Appl. Phys. Letters, Vol.63, p. 1206 (1993).Google Scholar
[24] Shenoy, P. M. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–16, p. 454 (1995).Google Scholar
[25] Alok, D. and Baliga, B. J., Int. Symp. Power Semiconductor Devices and Ics, Paper 5.1, p. 107 (1996).Google Scholar
[26] Ananthanarayanan, P., Nagapudi, V., and Baliga, B. J., PSRC Technical Report TR-98–013 (1998), (submitted to IEEE Electron Device Letters for publication.)Google Scholar
[27] Baliga, B. J. and Bhatnagar, M., Method for fabricating SiC FET″, U.S. Patent # 5,332,802, Issued June 21, 1994; B. J. Baliga and M. Bhatnagar, Silicon Carbide FET″, U.S. Patent # 5,338,945, Issued August 16, 1994.Google Scholar
[28] Shenoy, J. M., Cooper, J. A., and Melloch, M. R., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–I8, p. 93 (1997).Google Scholar
[29] Syau, T., Venkatraman, P., and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, Vol. ED–41, p. 800 (1994).Google Scholar
[30] Williams, R. K., et al, IEEE Int. Elec. Devices Meeting, Abstr. 14.4.1, p. 363 (1997).Google Scholar
[31] Bhatnagar, M. and Baliga, B. J., Inst. Phys. Conf. Series, Vol.137, p. 703 (1994).Google Scholar
[32] Plamour, J. W., et al, Proc. 28th Intersoc. Energy Conv. Engr. Conf., p. 1249 (1993).Google Scholar
[33] Palmour, J. W., et al, High Temp. Electronics Conf., Vol.2, p. XVI–9 (1996).Google Scholar
[34] Agarwal, A. K., et al, IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–18, p. 586 (1997).Google Scholar
[35] Hara, K., Material Science Forum, Vols. 264–268, p. 901 (1998).Google Scholar
[36] Sridevan, S. and Baliga, B. J., Int. Symp. Power Semiconductor Devices and Ics, Paper P1.24, p. 153 (1997).Google Scholar
[37] Baliga, B. J., Silicon Carbide semiconductor devices having buried SiC conduction barrier layers therein, U.S. Patent # 5,543,637, Issued August 6, 1996.Google Scholar
[38] Shenoy, P. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. EDL–18, p. 589 (1997).Google Scholar
[39] Chilukuri, R., Shenoy, P., and Baliga, B. J., PSRC Technical Report TR-98–07 (1998) accepted for presentation at Int. Symp. Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, Paper 6.1, (1998).Google Scholar
[40] Baliga, B. J., Scientific American Special Issue on ’The Solid State Century’, p. 34 (1998).Google Scholar
[41] Ramangul, N., et al, IEEE Device Research Conf., Paper IIIA-3, p. 56 (1996).Google Scholar
[42] Baliga, B. J., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, Vol. ED–43, p. 1717 (1996).Google Scholar