Current Gain Dependence on Emitter Width in 4H-SiC BJTs

Abstract

This paper reports the fabrication of epitaxial 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) with a maximum current gain β=64 and a breakdown voltage of 1100 V. The high β value is attributed to high material quality obtained after a continuous epitaxial growth of the base-emitter junction. The current gain of the BJTs increases with increasing emitter width indicating a significant influence of surface recombination. This “emitter-size” effect is in good agreement with device simulations including recombination in interface states at the etched termination of the baseemitter junction.