Simulation Aided Hardening of Power Diodes to Prevent Single Event Burnout

Abstract

This article presents the coupled electrothermal simulation results of single event burnout (SEB) in power diode with field limiting rings termination structure. Two different hardening techniques of low carrier lifetime control and introducing the buffer layer are investigated comparatively in both the radiation tolerance improvement and the electrical performance degradation. Our simulations reveal that a significant reduction in the carrier lifetime is needed for the hardening of the power diode using only the carrier lifetime control method. However, the sharp increases in the forward voltage drop and the leakage current at the lower carrier lifetime make this hardening technique unacceptable. On the contrary, the addition of the buffer layer is able to improve the safe operating area under the heavy ion irradiation even up to the breakdown voltage, while the breakdown characteristics and the leakage current are kept unchanged and the increases in the forward voltage drop and the reverse recovery charge can be well controlled. In conclusion, adding a buffer layer is considered a superior and promising hardening technique.