New High-Voltage Unipolar Mode p<sup>+</sup> Si/n<sup>–</sup> 4H-SiC Heterojunction Diode

Abstract

We demonstrate a new high-voltage p+ Si/n- 4H-SiC heterojunction diode (HJD) by numerical simulation and experimental results. This HJD is expected to display good reverse recovery because of unipolar action similar to that of a SiC Schottky barrier diode (SBD) when forward biased. The blocking voltage of the HJD is almost equal to the ideal level in the drift region of n- 4H-SiC. In addition, the HJD has the potential for a lower reverse leakage current compared with the SBD. A HJD was fabricated with p+-type polycrystalline silicon on an n--type epitaxial layer of 4H-SiC. Measured reverse blocking voltage was 1600 V with low leakage current. Switching characteristics of the fabricated HJD showed nearly zero reverse recovery with an inductive load circuit.