Physics and Innovative Technologies in SiC Power Devices

Abstract

Recent progress in mobility characterization, junction breakdown, and MOS interface of SiC is reviewed. A high electron mobility of 1,210 cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> /Vs was attained along the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$c$</tex> -axis. An unusually small electron impact ionization coefficient along the c-axis gives this material an artificially high critical electric field (2–5 MV/cm). By excluding oxidation of SiC while adopting H2 etching and interface nitridation, a low interface state density of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$3-6\times 10^{10}$</tex> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−2</sup> eV <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−1</sup> was achieved in SiC MOS structures, which resulted in two-fold improvement of channel mobility.