Simulation Study on Single-Event Burnout in Rated 1.2-kV 4H-SiC Super-Junction VDMOS

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices 2021-10, Vol.68 (10), p.5034-5040
• Main Authors: Yu, Cheng-Hao, Wang, Ying, Bao, Meng-Tian, Li, Xing-Ji, Yang, Jian-Qun, Tang, Zhao-Huan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buffer layer; Buffer layers; Degeneration; Degradation; Diffusion rate; Heavy ions; Ion irradiation; Junctions; Leakage current; Mathematical models; Metal oxide semiconductors; MOSFET; Radiation effects; Robustness (mathematics); Silicon carbide; silicon-carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET); Simulation; single-event burnout (SEB); Substrates; super-junction (SJ); Thickness
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2021.3102878

This article presents the 2-D numerical simulation results of the heavy-ion-induced leakage current degradation and single-event burnout (SEB) in the rated 1.2-kV silicon-carbide (SiC) super-junction (SJ) vertical diffusion metal-oxide-semiconductor (VDMOS). The employed simulation physics models were validated by the heavy-ion irradiation experiments of the commercially rated 1.2-kV SiC common VDMOS (C-VDMOS), which indicated a severe degeneration threshold of 500 V. The SiC common SJ VDMOS (C-SJ VDMOS) was proven to be sensitive to high-energy heavy-ion and represents comparative SEB performance compared with the SiC C-VDMOS. The robustness of the SiC SJ VDMOS with different single buffer layer (SBL) designs against a heavy-ion was simulated. It is found that the maximum temperature in the source metal/SiC interface and bottom of the structure could be compromised by the thickness of the buffer layer. As a result, the SiC SJ VDMOS with an optimal SBL exhibited a severe degeneration threshold of 800 V, which was a 60% increase compared to the SiC C-SJ VDMOS.