Abstract
The state-of-the-art silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) features a trench gate, since it enhances the conductivity modulation. The SiC trench IGBT, however, faces the critical challenge of a high electric field in the gate oxide, which is a crucial threat to the device’s reliability. In this work, we explore the possibility of using a SiC planar IGBT structure to approach high performance to the level of a SiC trench IGBT, without suffering the high gate oxide field. The proposed SiC planar IGBT features buried p-layers directly under the p-bodies, and thus can be formed using the same mask set. The region between the buried p-layer and the p-body is heavily doped with n-type dopants so that the conductivity modulation is improved. Comprehensive TCAD simulations have been carried out to verify this concept, and the simulation results show the new SiC planar IGBT exhibits a high performance comparable to the trench IGBT, and also exhibits a low gate oxide field.
Highlights
Due to the excellent material properties, silicon carbide (SiC) is attractive for power devices such as the Schottky barrier diode, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), and the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) [1,2,3,4].SiC IGBT is welcomed in ultrahigh voltage power applications because the conductivity modulation in IGBTs can effectively reduce conduction loss [5,6,7,8]
We explore the possibility of using a SiC planar IGBT structure to approach a high performance comparable to the SiC trench IGBT, and at the same time, to maintain a low gate oxide field
The devices are doped n-type region is located between the buried p-layer and the p-body in the buried p-layer IGBT (BP-IGBT)
Summary
Due to the excellent material properties (wide bandgap, a high critical electric field, a high temperature endurance, etc.), silicon carbide (SiC) is attractive for power devices such as the Schottky barrier diode, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), and the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) [1,2,3,4]. SiC trench-gate devices face the issue of a high gate oxide field in the off-state [11]. In a conventional SiC planar IGBT, the gate oxide field is often low enough. We explore the possibility of using a SiC planar IGBT structure to approach a high performance comparable to the SiC trench IGBT, and at the same time, to maintain a low gate oxide field. Thegate maximum gate in oxide is dramatically lower than that in the field in the BP-IGBT is dramatically lower than that in the SiC trench IGBT. The Sentaurus used for device simulations and mixed-mode circuit simulations. The equation and electron/hole continuity equations are solved self-consistently. Transport; band narrowing; and the anisotropic mobility model are all considered
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