Origin and Recovery of Negative VTH Shift on 4H–SiC MOS Capacitors: An Analysis Based on Inverse Laplace Transform and Temperature-Dependent Measurements

• Published in: Materials science in semiconductor processing 2024-07, Vol.177, p.108389, Article 108389
• Main Authors: Marcuzzi, A., Avramenko, M., De Santi, C., Geenen, F., Moens, P., Meneghesso, G., Zanoni, E., Meneghini, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1369-8001; 1873-4081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2024.108389

SiC power MOSFETs are reported to suffer from both positive and negative threshold voltage shifts. Positive shift is well understood in the literature and attributed to electron trapping in near interface oxide traps (NIOTs). Negative shift is explained by hole generation and trapping in the oxide via impact ionization favored by the strong oxide field. However, studies on negative shift are still ongoing, and the origin and nature of the process are not fully understood. This study advances the comprehension of negative threshold voltage shift by investigating MOS capacitors subject to positive bias stress. We demonstrate that: a) a significant negative threshold shift is observed when the electric field is greater than 7.5 MV/cm; b) the detected shift is not recoverable at zero bias. Recovery can be obtained only by applying a positive gate voltage indicating a field-driven detrapping process. c) Trap-state mapping measurements were carried out to extract the activation energy of the detrapping processes, and a weak thermal activation was observed. Results collected within this paper indicate that holes are trapped at deep centers, and thermal detrapping is not possible. Hole release is only possible when a high field is applied to the insulator, possibly due to the recombination between leaking electrons and trapped holes.