Experimentally Observed Electrical Durability of 4H-SiC JFET ICs Operating from 500 °C to 700 °C

Abstract

Prolonged 500 °C to 700 °C electrical testing data from 4H-SiC junction field effect transistor (JFET) integrated circuits (ICs) are combined with post-testing microscopic studies in order to gain more comprehensive understanding of the durability limits of the present version of NASA Glenn's extreme temperature microelectronics technology. The results of this study support the hypothesis that T ≥ 500 °C durability-limiting IC failure initiates with thermal stress-related crack formation where dielectric passivation layers overcoat micron-scale vertical features including patterned metal traces.