A Note on Non-Uniform Distribution of the Carrier Lifetime in Large-Area Devices

Carrier lifetime is a very important parameter influencing all important characteristics of bipolar devices, both discrete and integrated structures, and carrier lifetime tailoring is an important part of semiconductor device fabrication technology. Non-uniform distribution of carrier lifetime over the area of bipolar semiconductor devices and integrated circuits results in a non-uniform distribution of on-state current density and switching loses. Consequently, it results in non-uniform temperature distribution, which can negatively influence the reliability of the device. This paper discusses the influence of carrier lifetime inhomogeneous distribution on device characteristics. There is also a discussion of monitoring methods measuring carrier lifetime distribution both in starting single crystal material and in device structures after high-temperature processes and technological tools for structure homogenisation