Pattern of Near-Uniform Avalanche Breakdown in Off-Oriented 4H SiC

Author

Konstantinov, A. ; Neyer, T.

Author_Institution

Fairchild Semicond. Corp., Kista, Sweden

Volume

61

Issue

12

fYear

2014

fDate

Dec. 2014

Firstpage

4153

Lastpage

4157

Abstract

A streaky emission pattern was observed for near-uniform avalanche breakdown in large-area high-voltage p-n diodes in off-oriented 4H SiC. The streaks originate from unilateral expansion of microplasmas in the direction of the C-axis inclination. The unilateral expansion of avalanche plasma is attributed to anisotropy of high-field carrier transport in 4H SiC. At a high current density, the plasma streaks coalesce to form continuous plasma region over the entire area of the high-power device.

Keywords

avalanche breakdown; current density; p-n junctions; power semiconductor diodes; silicon compounds; wide band gap semiconductors; C-axis inclination; SiC; anisotropy; avalanche plasma; continuous plasma region; high-field carrier transport; large-area high-voltage p-n diodes; microplasmas; near-uniform avalanche breakdown; off-oriented 4H SiC; plasma streaks; streaky emission pattern; Avalanche breakdown; Breakdown voltage; Electron mobility; Plasmas; Semiconductor diodes; Silicon carbide; P-n junctions; p-n junctions; power semiconductor diodes; semiconductor defects; semiconductor device breakdown; silicon carbide; silicon carbide.;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2014.2364633

Filename

6957531