Demonstrating the Instability of SiC Ohmic Contacts and Drain Terminal Metallization Schemes Aged at 300 °C

Dean P. Hamilton; Steven A. Hindmarsh; Fan Li; Michael R. Jennings; Stephen Russell; Richard A. McMahon; Philip  Andrew Mawby

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.897.387

Paper Titles

4H-SiC Trench Structure Fabrication with Al₂O₃ Etching Mask
p.371

Improving Mechanical Strength and Surface Uniformity to Prepare High Quality Thinned 4H-SiC Epitaxial Wafer Using Si-Vapor Etching Technology
p.375

Fabrication of Thick Free-Standing Lightly-Doped n-Type 4H-SiC Wafers
p.379

A Method to Adjust Polycrystalline Silicon Carbide Etching Rate Profile by Chlorine Trifluoride Gas
p.383

Demonstrating the Instability of SiC Ohmic Contacts and Drain Terminal Metallization Schemes Aged at 300 °C
p.387

Ni-Al-Ti Ohmic Contacts on Al Implanted 4H-SiC
p.391

Effect of Annealing on the Characteristics of Ti/Al Ohmic Contacts to p-Type 4H-SiC
p.395

Low Resistance Ti-Si-C Ohmic Contacts for 4H-SiC Power Devices Using Laser Annealing
p.399

Laser Assisted SiC Wafering Using COLD SPLIT
p.403

HomeMaterials Science ForumMaterials Science Forum Vol. 897Demonstrating the Instability of SiC Ohmic...

Demonstrating the Instability of SiC Ohmic Contacts and Drain Terminal Metallization Schemes Aged at 300 °C

Abstract:

The long-term thermal stability of the drain contacts of three different commercially available SiC MOSFET devices has been determined at a storage temperature of 300 °C. Existing literature suggests that, at this temperature, the nickel silicides associated with ohmic contact creation should be stable, but this was found not to be the case. Our TEM and EDX work revealed silicide phase transformations, further silicide growth and severe thermally-driven degradation of the drain contact metallization stack on top of the silicide layers. We attribute this instability and growth of the silicides to the high storage temperature and large supply of nickel atoms available from the metal stack. The nickel atoms diffuse and decompose the original silicides to enable the formation of a new low temperature Ni₃₂Si₁₂ phase, and slowly decompose the SiC substrate to form additional nickel silicide.

You might also be interested in these eBooks

Silicon Carbide and Related Materials 2016

View Preview

Info:

Periodical:

Materials Science Forum (Volume 897)

Pages:

387-390

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.897.387

Citation:

Cite this paper

Online since:

May 2017

Authors:

Dean P. Hamilton*, Steven A. Hindmarsh, Fan Li, Michael R. Jennings, Stephen Russell, Richard A. McMahon, Philip Andrew Mawby

Keywords:

High Temperature, Nickel Silicides, Phase Transformations, SiC MOSFET, Storage

Export:

RIS, BibTeX

Price:

Permissions CCC:

Request Permissions

Permissions PLS:

Request Permissions

Сopyright:

Citation:

* - Corresponding Author

References

[1] D. Hamilton, M. Jennings, et. al., Degradation and reliability of bare dies operated up to 300°C, Materials Science Forum, 821 (2014) 681-684.

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.821-823.681

Google Scholar

[2] D. P. Hamilton, S. Hindmarsh, et. al., Ohmic Contact Reliability of Commercially Available SiC MOSFETs Isothermally Aged for Long Periods at 300°C in Air, Materials Science Forum, 858 (2015) 557-560.

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.858.557

Google Scholar

[3] D. P. Hamilton, M Jennings, et al., High temperature electrical and thermal aging performance and application considerations for SiC power DMOSFETs, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 99 (2016) 1-13.

DOI: 10.1109/tpel.2016.2636743

Google Scholar

[4] S. Liu, Z. He, et. al, The thermal stability study and improvement of 4H-SiC ohmic contact, Applied Physics Letters, 105 (2014) 122106.

Google Scholar

[5] F. Roccaforte, F. La Via, et. al., Structural and electrical properties of Ni∕Ti Schottky contacts on silicon carbide upon thermal annealing, J. Appl. Phy, 96 (2004) 4313-4318.

DOI: 10.1063/1.1787138

Google Scholar

[6] T. Marinova, et al., Nickel based ohmic contacts on SiC. Mat Sci Eng B-Solid, 46 (1997) 223-226.

Google Scholar

[7] S. Valeri, U. Del Pennino, et. al., Oxidation behaviour of nickel silicides investigated by AES and XPS, Surface Science Letters, 134, (1983), 537-542.

DOI: 10.1016/0167-2584(83)90632-1

Google Scholar