TID and displacement damage effects in vertical and lateral power MOSFETs for integrated DC-DC converters

Abstract

TID and displacement damage effects are studied for vertical and lateral power MOSFETs in five different technologies in view of the development of radiation-tolerant fully integrated DC-DC converters. Investigation is pushed to the very high level of radiation expected for an upgrade to the LHC experiments. TID induces threshold voltage shifts and, in n-channel transistors, source-drain leakage currents. Wide variability in the magnitude of these effects is observed. Displacement damage increases the on-resistance of both vertical and lateral high-voltage transistors. In the latter case, degradation at high particle fluence might lead to a distortion of the output characteristics curve. HBD techniques to limit or eliminate the radiation-induced leakage currents are successfully applied to these high-voltage transistors, but have to be used carefully to avoid consequences on the breakdown voltage.