Characteristics and modeling of wide band gap (WBG) power semiconductor

Abstract

Wide band gap (WBG) materials are an interesting class of semiconductors that offer a key criterion to the modern technological applications in terms of their high efficiency, high-frequency power applications, and high operating temperature and voltage. The famous families of the WBG semiconductors are the silicon carbide (SiC), the gallium nitride (GaN), the gallium oxide (Ga2O3), the diamond, and the aluminum nitride (AlN). Attention has turned to work on basic electronic devices like Schottky diodes, solar cells, IGBT transistors, and HEMTs using the WBG semiconductors to perform the characteristics of the device and to reach the suitable properties for the desired technological applications.In this chapter, we present the basic physical properties and the principle techniques for the characterization of the WBG materials. We present also the physics background of some powerful semiconductor devices based on WBG materials which allow an important achievement in the recent research and development requested by the modern technologies and the highly advanced science of such class of semiconductor materials. We conclude this chapter by a case study where we investigate the interface state of the Schottky contact based on 4H-SiC as a WBG material. The studied contacts are formed by a metal (molybdenum/tungsten) deposited on a WBG semiconductor (4H-SiC). The analysis of these contacts is made via the current-voltage (I-V) measurement of different temperatures. As a result of this study, the existence of the inhomogeneity of the interface metal/4H-SiC is evidenced by the temperature behavior of the physical parameters characterizing these structures.