Materials Science Forum Vols. 600-603

Abstract: The C(000-1) face of 4H-SiC has a lot of advantages for the power device fabrication such as the highest oxidation ratio and a smooth surface. However, the DMOS type power MOSFETs on the C(000-1) face have not been realized because of the difficulty of epitaxial growth and of high quality MOS interface formation. We have systematically investigated the device fabrication techniques for power MOSFETs on the C(000-1) face, and succeeded with the IEMOS which have blocking voltage of 660V and an on-resistance of 1.8mΩcm2 and excellent dynamic characteristics.

Abstract: Large (3.6 x 3.6 mm2) chips of the SiC DACFET were fabricated and mounted in TO220 packages. The drain-source avalanche breakdown voltage without any gate bias (Vgs=0V) is measured to be >1400V. The SiC DACFET keeps the normally-off characteristics even at 150°C. Ron and specific Ron of the SiC DACFET is measured to be 62mΩ and 6.7 mΩcm2 at RT while those at 150°C change to 107 mΩ and 11.6 mΩcm2. The 400V / 3 kW DC-DC switched-mode power-conversion circuit with 100kHz switching was fabricated using the SiC DACFET and the SiC SBD. The turn-off switching loss reduces dramatically using the SiC-DACFET down to 77μJ/pulse which is less than 1/10 of that using the Si-IGBT.

Abstract: The adoption of SiC devices as a viable technology depends crucially on maximising the potential advantages of the material. This is best achieved by the adoption of co-design techniques in which the optimisation of the SiC device is performed in parallel to that of the package and the overall application. This paper considers suitable techniques for this co-design and describes new approaches to the development of SiC technology for practical applications.

Abstract: DC characteristics and reverse recovery performance of 4H-SiC Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diodes capable of blocking in excess of 10 kV with forward conduction of 20 A at a forward voltage of less than 4 V are described. Performance comparisons are made to a similarly rated 10 kV 4H-SiC PiN diode. The JBS diodes show a significant improvement in reverse recovery stored charge as compared to PiN diodes, showing half of the stored charge at 25°C and a quarter of the stored charge at 125°C when switched to 3 kV blocking. These large area JBS diodes were also employed to demonstrate the tremendous advances that have recently been made in 4H-SiC substrate quality.

Abstract: 1.2 kV and 3.5 kV JBS diodes have been fabricated using the same technology process. After 50 hours of DC stress, 1.2 kV diodes do not exhibit any degradation in forward mode whereas the 3.5 kV JBS diodes show a degradation after ten hours. This behaviour has been confirmed by the formation of Stacking Faults clearly illustrated by electroluminescence microscopy in 3.5 kV JBS diodes, whereas it is not the case for the 1.2 kV JBS diodes.

Abstract: 4H-SiC SBDs have been developed by many researchers and commercialized for power application devices in recent years. At present time, the issues of an SiC-SBD are lower on-state current and a relatively larger-leakage current at the reverse bias than Si-PN diodes. A JBS (Junction Barrier Schottky) diode was proposed as a structure to realize a lower leakage current. We simulated the electrical characteristics of JBS diodes, where the Schottky electrode was made of molybdenum in order to optimize its performance. We fabricated JBS diodes based on the simulation with a diameter of 3.9mm (11.9 mm2). The JBS diode has a lower threshold voltage of 0.45 V, a large forward current of 40 A at Vf = 2.5V and a high breakdown voltage of 1660 V. Furthermore, the leakage current at 1200 V was remarkably low (Ir = 20 nA).

Abstract: Forward and reverse bias performance of 10kV, 10A and 20A junction barrier-controlled Schottky 4H silicon carbide rectifiers are presented. Over a temperature range of 30 to 200°C, the forward current-voltage curves show a normal Schottky rectifier relationship and the reverse current-voltage curves show typical PiN blocking. When operated in reverse-blocking at 125°C and 8kV, the 10A JBS rectifiers are notably stable at less than 5μA of leakage current, despite the large active area of the devices.

Abstract: 4H-SiC Junction Barrier Diodes (JBS) diodes were designed, fabricated and tested. The JBS diodes based on a 45μm thick, 1.4×1015cm-3 doped drift layer with multiple non-uniform spacing guard ring edge termination showed a blocking voltage of over 5kV. The 5kV JBS diode has a forward current density of 108A/cm2 at 3.5V and a specific on resistance (RSP_ON) of 25.2mW·cm2, which is very close to the theoretical RSP_ON of 23.3mΩ·cm2. DC I-V measurement of packaged JBS diodes showed a forward current of 100A at a voltage drop of 4.3V. A half-bridge inverter with a bus voltage up to 2.5kV was used to characterize the high power switching performance of SiC JBS diodes. A large inductance load of 1mH was used to simulate the load of a high power AC induction motor. Compared to a Si PIN diode module, the SiC JBS package reduces diode turn-off energy loss by 30% and Si IGBT turn-on energy loss by 21% at room temperature.

Abstract: The development of 10 kV silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs and Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diodes for application to a 13.8kV 2.7 MVA Solid State Power Substation (SSPS) is shown. The design of half-bridge power modules has extensively used simulation, from electron level device simulations to the system level trade studies, to develop the most efficient module for use in the SSPS. In the work presented within, numerical simulations and experimental results are shown to demonstrate the design and operation of 10 kV JBS diodes. It is shown that JBS diodes at 10 kV can reduce 31% of the switching losses at 20 kHz than the fastest SiC PiN diodes.