IEEE Electron Device Letters · 2007 · 51 citations · 11 references
EngineeringElectrical EngineeringMaterials ScienceMicroelectronicsPower ElectronicsSemiconductor DevicesIii-v SemiconductorsSemiconductor Device MaterialsSemiconductor PhysicsSemiconductor ReliabilityWide-bandgap Semiconductor DevicesWide-bandgap SemiconductorsCurrent DensityCurrent Density OptimizationCurrentsPower MosfetsSilicon Carbide Power ElectronicsState Resistance
SiC power MOSFETs designed for blocking voltages of 10 kV and higher face the problem of high drift layer resistance that gives rise to a high internal power dissipation in the ON -state. For this reason, the ON-state current density must be severely restricted to keep the power dissipation below the package limit. We have designed, optimized, and fabricated high-voltage SiC p-channel doubly-implanted metal-oxide-semiconductor insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) on 20-kV blocking layers for use as the next generation of power switches. These IGBTs exhibit significant conductivity modulation in the drift layer, which reduces the ON-state resistance. Assuming a 300 W/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> power package limit, the maximum currents of the experimental IGBTs are 1.2x and 2.1x higher than the theoretical maximum current of a 20-kV MOSFET at room temperature and 177 degC, respectively.
11