Charge Sheet Super Junction in 4H-Silicon Carbide: Practicability, Modeling and Design

We discuss details of the Charge Sheet SuperJunction (CSSJ) in 4H-Silicon Carbide (SiC). This device was earlier proposed in Si material. A CSSJ is obtained by replacing the p-pillar of a SJ by a bilayer insulator, e.g., Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: K. Akshay, Shreepad Karmalkar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9186681/
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Summary:We discuss details of the Charge Sheet SuperJunction (CSSJ) in 4H-Silicon Carbide (SiC). This device was earlier proposed in Si material. A CSSJ is obtained by replacing the p-pillar of a SJ by a bilayer insulator, e.g., Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>; the inter-layer interface of this insulator has a negative charge-sheet, whose magnitude is easily controlled via the insulator deposition temperature. This charge-sheet depletes the n-pillar. Two potential advantages of this structural modification are brought out. First, it can avoid the problems related to SiC SJ&#x2019;s p-pillar fabrication. Second, it can lower the specific-on resistance, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R_{ONSP}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, below that of SJ by 5&#x2013;45 &#x0025;, since SiC technology allows the insulator to be thinner than the p-pillar. The critical field, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E_{C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, in SiC is &#x003E; 10 times higher than that in Si. We give an analytical breakdown voltage, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{BR}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, model, which shows that the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{BR}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> sensitivity to charge imbalance due to inevitable process variations is inversely proportional to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E_{C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>; hence, this sensitivity of CSSJ in SiC is &#x003E; 10 times lower than that in Si. On the other hand, we give numerical simulations to establish that, in spite of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E_{C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> differences, the SiC CSSJ inherits the advantage of upto 15&#x0025; higher <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{BR}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> compared to SiC SJ, from its Si counterparts. We show how our prior analytical procedure of designing a SJ can be adapted to design a CSSJ having a lower <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R_{ONSP}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> than the SJ, at a specified <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{BR}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> in 1&#x2013;10 kV range and charge imbalance &#x2264; 20 &#x0025;. Our work should strengthen the motivation for fabricating the CSSJ in SiC.
ISSN:2168-6734