Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-05T21:19:21.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Breakdown Degradation Associated With Elementary Screw Dislocations In 4H-SiC P+N Junction Rectifiers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

P. G. Neudeck ,
W. Huang  and
M. Dudley
P. G. Neudeck
Affiliation:
NASA Lewis Research Center, M.S. 77–1, 21000 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, OH 44135
W. Huang
Affiliation:
Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794
M. Dudley
Affiliation:
Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794
Get access

Abstract

It is well-known that SiC wafer quality deficiencies are delaying the realization of outstandingly superior 4H-SiC power electronics. While efforts to date have centered on eradicating micropipes (i.e., hollow core super-screw dislocations with Burgers vector > 2c), 4H-SiC wafers and epilayers also contain elementary screw dislocations (i.e., Burgers vector = Ic with no hollow core) in densities on the order of thousands per cm2, nearly 100-fold micropipe densities. This paper describes an initial study into the impact of elementary screw dislocations on the reverse-bias current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of 4H-SiC p+n diodes. First, Synchrotron White Beam X-ray Topography (SWBXT) was employed to map the exact locations of elementary screw dislocations within small-area 4H-SiC p+n mesa diodes. Then the high-field reverse leakage and breakdown properties of these diodes were subsequently characterized on a probing station outfitted with a dark box and video camera. Most devices without screw dislocations exhibited excellent characteristics, with no detectable leakage current prior to breakdown, a sharp breakdown I-V knee, and no visible concentration of breakdown current. In contrast devices that contained at least one elementary screw dislocation exhibited a 5% to 35% reduction in breakdown voltage, a softer breakdown I-V knee, and visible microplasmas in which highly localized breakdown current was concentrated. The locations of observed breakdown microplasmas corresponded exactly to the locations of elementary screw dislocations identified by SWBXT mapping. While not as detrimental to SiC device performance as micropipes, the undesirable breakdown characteristics of elementary screw dislocations could nevertheless adversely affect the performance and reliability of 4H-SiC power devices.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 483: Symposium E – Power Semiconductor Materials & Devices , 1997 , 285
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Neudeck, P. G., J. Electron. Mater. 24 (4), 283–288 (1995).Google Scholar
2. Bhatnagar, M. and Baliga, B. J., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 40 (3), 645–655 (1993).Google Scholar
3. Baliga, B. J., IEEE Spectrum 32 (7), 34–49 (1995).Google Scholar
4. Eldridge, G. W., Barrett, D. L., Burk, A. A., Hobgood, H. M., Siergiej, R. R., Brandt, C. D., Tischler, M. A., Bilbro, G. L., Trew, R. J., Clark, W. H., and Gedridge, R. W. Jr.,, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Washington, DC, Report No. 93–2703, 1993.Google Scholar
5. Schaffer, W. J., Negley, G. H., Irvine, K. G., and Palmour, J. W. in Diamond, SiC, and Nitride Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors, edited by Carter, C. H. Jr.,, Gildenblatt, G., Nakamura, S., and Nemanich, R. J. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 339, Pittsburgh, PA, 1994), pp. 595–600.Google Scholar
6. Neudeck, P. G. and Powell, J. A., IEEE Electron Device Lett. 15 (2), 63–65 (1994).Google Scholar
7. Wang, S., Dudley, M., Carter, C. H. Jr.,, Tsvetkov, V. F., and Fazi, C. in Applications of Synchrotron Radiation Techniques to Materials Science, edited by Terminello, L., Shinn, N., Ice, G.,D'Amico, K., and Perry, D. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 375, Pittsburgh, PA, 1995), pp. 281–286.Google Scholar
8. Dudley, M., Wang, S., Huang, W., Carter, C. H. Jr.,, and Fazi, C., J. Phys. D 28, A63–A68 (1995).Google Scholar
9. Si, W., Dudley, M., Glass, R., Tsvetkov, V., and Carter, C. H. Jr.,, J. Electron. Mater. 26 (3), 128–133 (1997).Google Scholar
10. Si, W. and Dudley, M., to appear in Silicon Carbide, Ill-Nitrides, and Related Materials 1997, edited by Pensl, G. and Morkoc, H. (Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, 1998).Google Scholar
11. Wang, S., Dudley, M., Carter, C. H. Jr.,, and Kong, H. S. in Diamond, SiC and Nitride Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, edited by Carter, C. H. Jr.,, Gildenblat, G., Nakamura, S., and Nemanich, R. J. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 339, Pittsburgh, PA, 1994), pp. 735–740.Google Scholar
12. Powell, J. A., Larkin, D. J., Neudeck, P. G., Yang, J. W., and Pirouz, P. in Silicon Carbide and Related Materials, edited by Spencer, M. G., Devaty, R. P., Edmond, J. A., Kahn, M. A., Kaplan, R., and Rahman, M. (Institute of Physics Conference Series no. 137, Bristol, UK, 1994), pp. 161–164.Google Scholar
13. Tsvetkov, V. F., Glass, R. C., Henshall, D., Asbury, D. A., and Carter, C. H. Jr., to appear in Silicon Carbide, III-Nitrides, and Related Materials 1997, edited by Pensl, G. and Morkoc, H. (Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, 1998).Google Scholar
14. Cree Research, Inc. Product Data Sheets, 2810 Meridian Parkway, Suite 176, Durham, NC 27713.Google Scholar
15. Spencer, M. G., Devaty, R. P., Edmond, J. A., Khan, M. A., Kaplan, R., and Rahman, M., editors, Silicon Carbide and Related Materials, (Institute of Physics Conference Series no. 137, Bristol, UK, 1994), pp. 465–690.Google Scholar
16. Pensl, G. and Morkoc, H., editors, Silicon Carbide, ll-Nitrides, and Related Materials 1997, (Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, 1998).Google Scholar
17. Larkin, D. J., Neudeck, P. G., Powell, J. A., and Matus, L. G., Appl. Phys. Lett. 65 (13), 1659–1661 (1994).Google Scholar
18. Larkin, D. J., Phys. Status Solidi B 202 (1), 305–320 (1997).Google Scholar
19. Dudley, M., in Encyclopedia of Applied Physics, vol.21. (Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, New York 1997), pp. 533–547.Google Scholar
20. Konstantinov, A. O., Nordell, N., Wahab, Q., and Lindefelt, U., ‘Ionization Rates and Critical Fields for Uniform Breakdown in 4H SiC,’ presented at Electronic Materials Conference, Ft. Collins, CO, 1997 (unpublished).Google Scholar
21. Konstantinov, A. O., Wahab, Q., Nordell, N., and Lindefelt, U. to appear in Silicon Carbide, III-Nitrides, and Related Materials 1997, edited by Pensl, G. and Morkoc, H. (Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, 1998).Google Scholar
22. Stein, R. A. and Rupp, R. in Silicon Carbide and Related Materials, edited by Spencer, M. G., Devaty, R. P., Edmond, J. A., Khan, M. A., Kaplan, R., and Rahman, M. (Institute of Physics Conference Series no. 137, Bristol, UK, 1994), pp. 561–563.Google Scholar
23. Barnett, A. M. and Milnes, A. G., J. Appl. Phys. 37 (11), 4215–4223 (1966).Google Scholar
24. Barnett, A. M., in Injection Phenomena, edited by Willardson, R. K. and Beer, A. C. (Semiconductors and Semimetals 6, Academic Press, New York, 1970), pp. 141–200.Google Scholar
25. Chynoweth, A. G. and Pearson, G. L., J. Appl. Phys. 29 (7), 1103–1110 (1958).Google Scholar
26. Chynoweth, A. G., in Physics of Ill-V Compounds, edited by Willardson, R. K. and Beer, A. C. (Semiconductors and Semimetals 4, Academic Press, New York, 1968) pp. 307–325.Google Scholar
27. Sze, S. M., Physics of Semiconductor Devices, 2nd. ed., (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1981).Google Scholar
28. Baliga, B. J., Modem Power Devices, (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1987).Google Scholar
29. Ricketts, L. W., Bridges, J. E., and Miletta, J., EMP Radiation and Protective Techniques (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1976).Google Scholar
30. Ghose, R. N., EMP Environment and System Hardness Design (D. White Consultants, Gainesville, VA, 1984).Google Scholar
31. Neudeck, P. and Fazi, C., IEEE Electron Device Lett. 18 (3), 96–98 (1997).Google Scholar