A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices

A New Generation of Power Semiconductor

Devices
Jos Milln
Centro Nacional de Microelectrnica, CNM
CNM-CSIC, Campus Universitad Autnoma de Barcelona,
08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Introduction
Si Power Devices
Si IGBTs
Si Super-junctions
SiC Power Devices
SiC Power Rectifiers
SiC Power Switches
GaN Power Devices
WBG Future Trends
Outline
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
efficient processing of electrical energy through means of
electronic switching devices
Power Electronics is:
40% of Energy
consumed as
electricity
Introduction
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Traction/Automotive
Communications
Energy Distribution
Introduction
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Classification of High Voltage
Devices
Power Devices
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Si Power Devices
Si Power Devices
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
GTO, Power MOSFET and Cool MOS
Voltage Range
Power MOSFET
Cool MOS
GTO Thyristor
Power
supplies
Electric
cars
Motor
control
Traction
& HVDC
Si Power Devices
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
IGBT Structure & Output Characteristics
Structure of DMOS IGBT Static Characteristics
Current x10 compared with power MOSFET
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
IGBT OFF-state
The p -base/n-base
junction blocks the voltage
while the device is in the
off-state
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
IGBT ON-state
-
When the device is in the
on-state the electron
current at the cathode flows
through the channel like in a
MOSFET and acts as the
base current for the pnp
transistor formed between
the p+ anode-(emitter), n-
base & n+ buffer (base)
and p-base (collector).
Due to high level of
injection in the on-state the
entire n-base is modulated
by mobile carriers in
equilibrium with an
effective charge of few
orders of magnitude higher
than the original doping
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
p
+
n- drift
region
Source/Cathode
Gate
Source/Cathode
Anode
n
+
n
+
p well
p well
p+ p+
The IGBT has within its structure three MOS- bipolar devices:
(i) The cascade MOSFET - PIN diode
(ii) MOS base current controlled - wide base PNP transistor
(iii) Parasitic MOS turn-on thyristor - must be always
suppressed
The IGBT Equivalent Circuit
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
IGBT turn-off Characteristics
(2)
(3)
(4)
(1)
Examples of measured I GBT turn- off characteristics in inductive conditions.
The characteristics are plotted for different rail voltages. There are three
distinctive regions ( 1) voltage rise ( 2) electron current fall, ( 3) removal of
main charge stored in the drift region ( 4) current tail through recombination
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Three concepts that led to major
advancements in IGBTs from one
generation to another
Trench and thin wafer technologies led to
~30 % cut in the on-state voltage drop
PIN diode effect Enhanced injection of
electrons at the top side (channel side) of the
drift region led to a further 20% decrease in
the on-state voltage drop
Field stop (Soft Punch Through) technology led
to ~20% cut in the turn-off losses and 10-20%
decrease in the on-state voltage drop
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
PT & NPT IGBT Structures
Punch-Through (PT IGBT)
Non Punch-Through (NPT IGBT)
E
cr
E
cr
Safety
distance
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Trench IGBT Cross Sections
Schematic Schematic SEM SEM
4m
5m
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Breakdown vs on-state in DMOS IGBT & Trench
IGBT
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The ability to engineer the PIN diode section in
the TIGBT can be used to optimise its performance
The heavily charged accumulation layer
serves as an electron injector forming a
PIN diode with n-drift region and p-anode
There are two paths for the current flow:
(i) the double sided injection path of the
PIN diode with increased plasma at both
injection ends (anode and cathode end),
and
(ii) the pnp path with increased plasma
only at the IGBT anode end.
Increasing the PIN diode contribution
over that of the pnp transistor is the key
to enhance the device performance
This is equivalent to suppressing the
collection of holes by the p well to the
cathode short
n buffer
n- drift region
Cathode
Anode
n+ n+
p - well p - well
Gate
Channel
Cathode
P anode
p+ p+
Electron
injector
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
On-state Characteristics of a TIGBT
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The Field Stop (or Soft Punch-Through),
PT and NPT structures
n- buffer field stop
P transparent anode
p+
( substrate)
n- drift
region
Gate
Source/Cath
n
+
p well
250
m
120
m
N- buffer
15m
P transparent
anode
n
+
p well
200m
1m
n- drift
region
n
+
p well
120
m
1- 2 m
1 m
PT - I GBT
NPT - I GBT SPT - I GBT
Source/Cath Gate Gate
Source/Cath
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The Field Stop (or Soft Punch-Through),
PT and NPT comparison
Structure PT -IGBT NPT -IGBT SPT - IGBT
Drift layer thickness thin thick thin
Wafer type (for 600 V
and 1.2 kV)
Epitaxial Float zone (FZ) Float Zone (FZ)
Buffer Layer Thick and highly doped N/A Thin and lowly doped
P+ anode injector Thick and highly doped
(whole substrate)
Thin and relatively
lowly doped
Thin and relatively
lowly doped
Bipolar gain control Lifetime killing Injection efficiency Injection efficiency
On-state losses low medium low
Switching losses high medium low
Turn-off tail short long short
Voltage overshoot (in
some applications)
high low low
Temperature coefficient negative (mostly) positive positive
SCSOA (short circuit
conditions)
medium large large
RBSOA (reverse bias
conditions)
narrow large large
Structure PT -IGBT NPT -IGBT SPT - IGBT
Drift layer thickness thin thick thin
Wafer type (for 600 V
and 1.2 kV)
Epitaxial Float zone (FZ) Float Zone (FZ)
Buffer Layer Thick and highly doped N/A Thin and lowly doped
P+ anode injector Thick and highly doped
(whole substrate)
Thin and relatively
lowly doped
Thin and relatively
lowly doped
Bipolar gain control Lifetime killing Injection efficiency Injection efficiency
On-state losses low medium low
Switching losses high medium low
Turn-off tail short long short
Voltage overshoot (in
some applications)
high low low
Temperature coefficient negative (mostly) positive positive
SCSOA (short circuit
conditions)
medium large large
RBSOA (reverse bias
conditions)
narrow large large
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
1.2 kV IGBTs. SPT has a better carrier profile than the
PT and NPT structures with the Trench SPT showing the
most favorable result.
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The trade-off between on-state voltage and turn-off energy
losses for 1.2 kV DMOS PT IGBT, the Trench IGBT and the
Trench SPT IGBT
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
n+ n+
H. Takahashi, 1.2 kV Reverse Conducting
IGBT (ISPSD 2004), Mitsubishi
M. Rahimo, 3.3 kV RC IGBT using SPT+
technology (ISPSD 2008)
The Reverse Conducting IGBT
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The Reverse Blocking IGBT
600V RB-IGBT designed and fabricated at CNM
Additional protection of IGBT periphery: trench isolation (patent pending)
Applications: Current inverters, resonant converters, Matrix converters,
BDS
N
Al
SiO
2
Poly Si
P
+
Junction supporting
forward bias
Body-P
Epitaxy -N
Substrate-P
Substrate-P
+
+
-
Junction supporting
reverse bias
-800 -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800
-1,25
-1,00
-0,75
-0,50
-0,25
0,00
0,25
0,50
0,75
1,00
1,25
I
C

(
m
A
)
V
CE
(V)
RB-IGBT
(G-E short)
3328-RBI Wafer 11 Bidirectional Blocking Capability
Si IGBTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Super-Junction MOSFETS
COOLMOS
Rectangular e-field distribution
allows increasing Nepi doping.
RonxA below Si limit
Si Super-junctions
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
WBG Power Devices
WBG Semiconductors
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Si devices are limited to operation at
junction temperatures lower than 200 C
Si power devices not suitable at very high
frequencies
SiC and GaN offer the potential to overcome
both the temperature, frequency and power
management limitations of Si.
Why WBG Semiconductors?
WBG Semiconductors
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Physical properties of WBG for Power Devices
Material
E
g
(eV)
@300K

n
(cm/Vs)

p
(cm/Vs)
V
sat
(cm/s)
E
c
(V/cm )

(W/cm.K)

r
Si
1.12 1450 450 10
7
310
5
1.3 11.7
4H - SiC
3.2 950 115 2 10
7
3 10
6
5 10
GaN
3.39 1000 350 2 10
7
5 10
6
1.3 8.9
Diamond
5.6 2200 1800 3 10
7
5 10
7
20 5.7
WBG Semiconductors
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
GaN & SiC process technologies are more mature
At present, SiC is considered to have the best trade-off
between properties and commercial maturity
GaN can offer better HF and HV performances, but the
lack of good quality large area substrates is a
disadvantage for vertical devices
GaN presents a lower thermal conductivity than SiC
GaN allows forming 2DEG heterojunctions (InAlGaN
alloys) grown on SiC or Si substrates
Currently, it is a sort of competition SiC vs GaN, in a
battle of performance versus cost
There is not a clear winner at the moment. They will
find their respective application niches with a
tremendous potential market
WBG Technology
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
SiC Power Devices
SiC Power Devices
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
SiC Power Rectifiers
Schottky barrier diodes (SBD): extremely high switching speed but
lower blocking voltage and high leakage current.
PiN diodes: high-voltage operation and low leakage current, reverse
recovery charging during switching.
Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diodes: Schottky-like on-state and
switching characteristics, and PiN-like off-state characteristics.
SiC Power Diodes
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
State-of-the-Art
SiC rectifiers
Schottkyand now J BS diodes are commercially available up to
1.2 kV: CREE, Infineon basically.
PiN diodes will be only relevant for BV over 3 kV.
- Need to overcome its reliability problem (forward
voltage drift) before commercialisation
SiC Power Diodes
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
SiC Power Switches
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Very low R
on
Rugged Gate-structure
Excellent short-circuit
capability
High temperature possible
Main problem: Normally on (?)
x
SiC Power Switches (unipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Compared to a COOLMOS
based converter, the SiC-
based one offers the
highest efficiency (90%)
All SiC sparse matix
converters
CoolMOS + SiC efficiency
higher than 96%
Hybrid Si/SiC cascode electric switch
All SiC sparse matrix converter: 100 KHz 1.5 kW efficiency
94% 1300V 4 A SiCED Cascodes + 1200 V 5 A CREE Schottky
diodes
3 phase PWM rectifier 10kW 500KHz 480V CoolMOS + SiC
Schottky diodes : efficiency higher than 96%
SiC Power Switches (unipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Simple planar structrure
Voltage gate control
Extensively used in Si
technology
Normally-off
Low channel mobility in SiC
High temperature operation ?
Gate reliability ?
MOSFET main problems
x
MOSFET Advantages

Trench/DiMOSFET
Lateral DMOFET
SiC Power Switches (unipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
CREE: 2.3KV-5A R
on
=0.48 (25C) 13.5m.cm
2
,
Ir=200uA. Cin=380pF, Cout=100pF, reverse transfer
C=19pF (Vgs=0,Vds=25V, 1MHz)
Infineon: 1200V-10A, Ron=0.27 (25C) 12m.cm
2
Denso: 1200V-10A, 5 m.cm
2
(25C), 8.5m.cm
2
(150C)
SiC Power Switches (unipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
10 kV MOSFET
(Cree)
[M. Das et al. at ISPSD2008, pp. 253-259]
SiC Power Switches (unipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
3500 V - 6500 V range
Unlike Si BJT, SiC BJT does not
suffer from a secondary breakdown
is reduced (50%) under bias
stress (stacking faults base-emitter
region)
4 kV, 10 A BJT
max = 34
chip area = 4.24 mm 4.24
mm
IR =50 A @ 4.7 kV
turn-on time = 168 ns @ RT
turn-off time = 106 ns @ RT
State-of-the-art
[S. Krishnaswami et al.,
ISPSD2006, pp. 289-292]
SiC Power Switches (bipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Problems of MOSFETS (Channel mobility,
reliability)
Problems of Bipolar (current gain degradation,
stacking faults)
Problems of highly doped P substrate growth
SiC IGBT?
May 2008 (ISPSD 2008): CREE 10kV n-channel IGBT
3V knee, 14.3 mcm
2
At 200C the n-IGBT operates at 2 the current
density of the n-MOSFET
SiC Power Switches (bipolar)
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
GaN Power Devices
GaN Power Devices
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
GaN Power Rectifiers
Until recently, because of the lack of electrically
conducting GaN substrates, GaN Schottky diodes were
either lateral or quasi-vertical
Breakdown voltages of lateral GaN rectifiers on
Sapphire substrates as high as 9.7 kV have been
reported
Zhang et al.
IEEE T-ED,48, 407, 2001
SBD PiN
GaN Power Diodes
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
GaN Power HEMTs
GaN HEMTs have attracted most attention with impressive
trade-off between Ron vs BV
Power densities 1.1 W/mm in 1996 initially to microwave
power HEMTs with high output power capability as high as
40 W/mm recently
A major obstacle trapping effects though drain-current
collapse
Several solutions :
(1) surface-charge-controlled n-GaN-cap structure
(2) the recessed gate and field-modulating plate
structure
(3) passivation of surface states via silicon nitride or
other dielectric.
GaN Power HEMTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
High voltage AlGaN/GaN HEMTs over 1 kV were reported in
2006
It has been also demonstrated a GaN power switch for kW
power conversion.
The switch shows a speed grater than 2 MHz with rise- and
fall-time of less than 25 ns, and turn-on/turn-off switching
losses of 11 J with a resistive load.
Switching at 100 V/11 A and 40 V/23 A was achieved with
resistive and inductive loads, respectively.
S. YOSHIDA et al. ISPSD 2006
GaN Power HEMTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Y. Uemoto et al. IEDM 2007
8.3 kV HEMT
(Panasonic)
Via-holes through sapphire at the
drain electrodes enable very
efficient layout of the lateral HFET
array as well as better heat
dissipation
GaN Power HEMTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The state-of-the-art AlGaN/GaN HEMT
[T. Nomura et al., ISPSD 2006, pp. 313-316]
Process technology based on a tri-metal Ti/AlSi/Mo layer
very low contact resistance and an excellent surface
morphology.
Mo (barrier metal) to improve the surface morphology
AlSi results more efficient for a low contact resistance
than Al.
Low stress, high-refractive index SiN
x
layer
Gate leakage current as low as 10
-7
A/mm.
R
on
= 6.3 m.cm
2
, V
BR
= 750 V.
Turn-on time: 7.2 ns (1/10 of Si MOSFET).
Switching operation no significant degraded at 225C.
GaN Power HEMTs
GaN Power HEMTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
The state-of-the-art normally-off AlGaN/GaN HEMT
[N. Kaneko et al. , ISPSD 2009, pp. 25-28]
Recess gate electrode and NiOx
as gate electrode
(NiOx operates as a p-type)
W
gate
= 157 mm, V
th
= +0.8 V
R
on
A = 6.3 m.cm
2
R
on
= 72 m
V
BR
> 800 V
I
Dmax
> 20 A
The gate leakage current four orders of magnitude smaller than
the conventional normally-on HFETs.
GaN Power HEMTs
GaN Power normally-off AlGaN/GaN HEMTs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Lateral GaN MOSFETs
Lateral MOSFETs have been fabricated on p-GaN epilayer
(MOCVD) on sapphire substrates
[W. Huang et al., ISPSD 2008, pp. 291].
- High quality SiO
2
/GaN interface
- 2.5 kV breakdown voltage
- High channel mobility (170 cm
2
/V.s)
Lateral GaN MOSFETs can compete with SiC MOSFETs and GaN
HEMTs?
Reduction of source/drain resistance is crucial to further
reduce the device on-resistance.
GaN Power MOSFETs
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
WBG Future Trends
SiC Switches
Successful demonstration of the cascode pair (a high-
voltage, normally-on SiC JFET + a low-voltage Si
MOSFET).
An industrial normally-off SiC switch is expected. It
could be the SiC MOSFET (<5kV) or the SiC IGBT
(>5kV).
BJTs/Darlingtons are promising, they also suffer from
reliability problems.
A normally-off SiC power transistor in the BV range of
600V-1200V available within next two years.
WBG Future Trends
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
GaN Power Devices
GaN is already commercialised in optoelectronics.
Its applications in power switching still require
further work in materials, processing and device
design.
GaN HEMT (5-10 A, 600-1200 V normally-off)
It will be interesting to see if GaN power devices,
especially low cost Schottky diode, can overtake or
displace SiC diodes.
GaN Power HEMTs
WBG Future Trends
A New Generation of Power Semiconductor Devices
Thanks for your attention