An Analytical Model of the Forward I– V Characteristics of 4H-SiC p-i-n Diodes Valid for a Wide Range of Temperature and Current

The forward I-V characteristics of 4H-SiC p-i-n diodes are studied in a wide range of currents and temperatures by means of an analytical model that allows us to highlight the minority current contributions in various diode regions, namely, the highly doped regions, the neutral base, and the space charge layer. By accounting for the doping dependence of various physical parameters, such as bandgap narrowing, incomplete doping activation, carrier lifetime, and mobility, the model turns useful to investigate the role of various material properties at different current levels and temperatures. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparisons with numerical simulations and experimental data in a wide range of currents and temperatures, so that this model turns very useful for better understanding the impact of technological parameters on the steady-state behavior of diodes and obtaining an accurate circuital model of diodes.

[1]  M. Roschke,et al.  Electron mobility models for 4H, 6H, and 3C SiC [MESFETs] , 2001 .

[2]  J. Palmour,et al.  Conductivity Anisotropy in Epitaxial 6H and 4H Sic , 1994 .

[3]  J. Palmour,et al.  Steady-state and transient forward current-voltage characteristics of 4H-silicon carbide 5.5 kV diodes at high and superhigh current densities , 1999 .

[5]  Dominique Tournier,et al.  Ni/Ti ohmic and Schottky contacts on 4H-SiC formed with a single thermal treatment , 2005 .

[6]  Proceedings modelling of SiC-PiN diode with adjust of ambipolar diffusion length , 2010, SPEEDAM 2010.

[7]  C. Sah,et al.  Carrier Generation and Recombination in P-N Junctions and P-N Junction Characteristics , 1957, Proceedings of the IRE.

[8]  R. Ghandi,et al.  Modeling and Characterization of Current Gain Versus Temperature in 4H-SiC Power BJTs , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[9]  Francesco Giuseppe Della Corte,et al.  Experimental characterization and numerical analysis of the 4H-SiC p-i-n diodes static and transient behaviour , 2008, Microelectron. J..

[10]  J. Cooper,et al.  Numerical Study of the Turnoff Behavior of High-Voltage 4H-SiC IGBTs , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[11]  P. T. Landsberg,et al.  The connection between carrier lifetime and doping density in nondegenerate semiconductors , 1984 .

[12]  H. Mitlehner,et al.  SiC devices: physics and numerical simulation , 1994 .

[13]  N. Goldsman,et al.  Numerical and experimental characterization of 4H-silicon carbide lateral metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor , 2006 .

[14]  Krishna Shenai,et al.  Characterization of hard- and soft-switching performance of high-voltage Si and 4H-SiC PiN diodes , 2002 .

[15]  A. Herlet.  The forward characteristic of silicon power rectifiers at high current densities , 1968 .

[16]  W. J. Choyke,et al.  Absorption of Light in Alpha SiC near the Band Edge , 1957 .

[17]  L. F. Albanese,et al.  A Self-Consistent Model of the OCVD Behavior of Si and 4H-SiC $\hbox{p}^{+}\hbox{-n-n}^{+}$ Diodes , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[18]  P. K. Singh,et al.  Modeling of Minority -Carrier Surface Recombination Velocity at Low-High Junction of , 1991 .

[19]  Jun Wang,et al.  Design and Characterization of High-Voltage Silicon Carbide Emitter Turn-off Thyristor , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[20]  Christer Hallin,et al.  Auger recombination in 4H-SiC: Unusual temperature behavior , 1997 .

[21]  J.H. Zhao,et al.  High-Frequency Switching of SiC High-Voltage LJFET , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[22]  U. Lindefelt.  Doping-induced band edge displacements and band gap narrowing in 3C-, 4H- 6H-SiC and Si , 1998 .

[23]  H. Grubin.  The physics of semiconductor devices , 1979, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[24]  Francesco Giuseppe Della Corte,et al.  Simulation and experimental results on the forward J-V characteristic of Al implanted 4H-SiC p-i-n diodes , 2007, Microelectron. J..

[25]  E. Janzén,et al.  Investigation of thermal properties in fabricated 4H-SiC high power bipolar transistors , 2003 .

[26]  A. Agarwal,et al.  Assessing the Impact of SiC MOSFETs on Converter Interfaces for Distributed Energy Resources , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.