Low-Temperature Annealing of Radiation-Induced Degradation in 4H-SiC Bipolar Junction Transistors

Abstract

Radiation hardness is tested for 4H-SiC n-p-n bipolar junction transistors designed for 1200-V breakdown voltage by implanting MeV protons and carbon ions at different doses and energies. The current gain is found to be a very sensitive parameter, and a fluence as low as 1 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7</sup> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> of 10 MeV <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> C can be clearly detected in the forward-output characteristics, I <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">C</sub> (V <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">CE</sub> ) . At this low dose, no influence of ion radiation is seen in the open-collector characteristics, I <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> (V <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">EB</sub> ), or the reverse bias leakage and breakdown properties. Moreover, by annealing the implanted devices at 420°C for 30 min, a complete recovery of the electrical characteristics is accomplished.