Fundamentals of Silicon Carbide Technology Growth, Characterization, Devices and Applications

About the Authors xi

Preface xiii

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Progress in Electronics 1

1.2 Features and Brief History of Silicon Carbide 3

1.3 Outline of This Book 6

References 6

2 Physical Properties of Silicon Carbide 11

2.1 Crystal Structure 11

2.2 Electrical and Optical Properties 16

2.3 Thermal and Mechanical Properties 30

2.4 Summary 32

References 33

3 Bulk Growth of Silicon Carbide 39

3.1 Sublimation Growth 39

3.2 Polytype Control in Sublimation Growth 46

3.3 Defect Evolution and Reduction in Sublimation Growth 50

3.4 Doping Control in Sublimation Growth 59

3.5 High-Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition 64

3.6 Solution Growth 66

3.7 3C-SiC Wafers Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition 67

3.8 Wafering and Polishing 67

3.9 Summary 69

References 69

4 Epitaxial Growth of Silicon Carbide 75

4.1 Fundamentals of SiC Homoepitaxy 75

4.2 Doping Control in SiC CVD 90

4.3 Defects in SiC Epitaxial Layers 93

4.4 Fast Homoepitaxy of SiC 105

4.5 SiC Homoepitaxy on Non-standard Planes 107

4.6 SiC Homoepitaxy by Other Techniques 110

4.7 Heteroepitaxy of 3C-SiC 111

4.8 Summary 114

References 115

5 Characterization Techniques and Defects in Silicon Carbide 125

5.1 Characterization Techniques 125

5.2 Extended Defects in SiC 155

5.3 Point Defects in SiC 165

5.4 Summary 179

References 180

6 Device Processing of Silicon Carbide 189

6.1 Ion Implantation 189

6.2 Etching 208

6.3 Oxidation and Oxide/SiC Interface Characteristics 212

6.4 Metallization 248

6.5 Summary 262

References 263

7 Unipolar and Bipolar Power Diodes 277

7.1 Introduction to SiC Power Switching Devices 277

7.2 Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) 282

7.3 pn and pin Junction Diodes 286

7.4 Junction-Barrier Schottky (JBS) and Merged pin-Schottky (MPS) Diodes 296

References 300

8 Unipolar Power Switching Devices 301

8.1 Junction Field-Effect Transistors (JFETs) 301

8.2 Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) 312

References 350

9 Bipolar Power Switching Devices 353

9.1 Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs) 353

9.2 Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) 373

9.3 Thyristors 392

References 415

10 Optimization and Comparison of Power Devices 417

10.1 Blocking Voltage and Edge Terminations for SiC Power Devices 417

10.2 Optimum Design of Unipolar Drift Regions 435

10.3 Comparison of Device Performance 440

References 443

11 Applications of Silicon Carbide Devices in Power Systems 445

11.1 Introduction to Power Electronic Systems 445

11.2 Basic Power Converter Circuits 446

11.3 Power Electronics for Motor Drives 458

11.4 Power Electronics for Renewable Energy 471

11.5 Power Electronics for Switch-Mode Power Supplies 476

11.6 Performance Comparison of SiC and Silicon Power Devices 481

References 486

12 Specialized Silicon Carbide Devices and Applications 487

12.1 Microwave Devices 487

12.2 High-Temperature Integrated Circuits 497

12.3 Sensors 499

References 509

Appendix A Incomplete Dopant Ionization in 4H-SiC 511

References 515

Appendix B Properties of the Hyperbolic Functions 517

Appendix C Major Physical Properties of Common SiC Polytypes 521

C. 1 Properties 521

C. 2 Temperature and/or Doping Dependence of Major Physical Properties 522

References 523

Index 525