1677 V, 5.7 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC BJTs

This letter reports the development of a high-performance power 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistor (BJT) with, simultaneously, a high blocking voltage and a low specific on-resistance (R/spl I.bar//sub ON/). A single BJT cell with an active area of 0.61 mm/sup 2/ achieves an open base collector-to-emitter blocking voltage (V/sub ceo/) of 1677 V and conducts up to 3.2 A at a forward voltage drop of V/sub CE/=3.0 V, corresponding to a low R/spl I.bar//sub ON/ of 5.7 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ up to Jc=525 A/cm/sup 2/ and a record high value of V/sub B//sup 2//R/sub SP/spl I.bar/ON/ of 493 MW/cm/sup 2/.     

4H-SiC power bipolar junction transistor with a very low specific ON-resistance of 2.9 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/

This letter reports a newly achieved best result on the specific ON-resistance (R/sub SP/spl I.bar/ON/) of power 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). A 4H-SiC BJT based on a 12-/spl mu/m drift layer shows a record-low specific-ON resistance of only 2.9 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/, with an open-base collector-to-emitter blocking voltage (V/sub ceo/) of 757 V, and a current gain of 18.8. The active area of this 4H-SiC BJT is 0.61 mm/sup 2/, and it has a fully interdigitated design. This high-performance 4H-SiC BJT conducts up to 5.24 A at a forward voltage drop of V/sub CE/=2.5 V, corresponding to a low R/sub SP-ON/ of 2.9 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ up to J/sub c/=859 A/cm/sup 2/. This is the lowest specific ON-resistance ever reported for high-power 4H-SiC BJTs.     

1330 V, 67 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC(0001) RESURF MOSFET

Design and fabrication of 4H-SiC(0001) lateral MOSFETs with a two-zone reduced surface field structure have been investigated. The dose dependencies of experimental breakdown voltage show good agreement with simulation. Through the optimization of implant dose, high-temperature (1700/spl deg/C) annealing after ion implantation, and reduction of channel length, a breakdown voltage of 1330 V and a low on-resistance of 67 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ have been obtained. The figure-of-merit (V/sub B//sup 2//R/sub on/) of the present device reaches 26 MW/cm/sup 2/, being the best performance among lateral MOSFETs reported. The temperature dependence of static characteristics is also presented.     

Electrical characteristics of 8-/spl Aring/ EOT HfO/sub 2//TaN low thermal-budget n-channel FETs with solid-phase epitaxially regrown junctions

The authors demonstrate high-performing n-channel transistors with a HfO/sub 2//TaN gate stack and a low thermal-budget process using solid-phase epitaxial regrowth of the source and drain junctions. The thinnest devices have an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 8 /spl Aring/, a leakage current of 1.5 A/cm/sup 2/ at V/sub G/=1 V, a peak mobility of 190 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, and a drive-current of 815 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m at an off-state current of 0.1 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m for V/sub DD/=1.2 V. Identical gate stacks processed with a 1000-/spl deg/C spike anneal have a higher peak mobility at 275 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, but a 5-/spl Aring/ higher EOT and a reduced drive current at 610 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m. The observed performance improvement for the low thermal-budget devices is shown to be mostly related to the lower EOT. The time-to-breakdown measurements indicate a maximum operating voltage of 1.6 V (1.2 V at 125 /spl deg/C) for a ten-year lifetime, whereas positive-bias temperature-instability measurements indicate a sufficient lifetime for operating voltages below 0.75 V.     

A 4.15 kV 9.07-m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC Schottky-barrier diode using Mo contact annealed at high temperature

In this letter, we report the fabrication of high-voltage and low-loss 4H-SiC Schottky-barrier diodes (SBDs) with a performance close to the theoretical limit using a Mo contact annealed at high-temperature. High-temperature annealing for the Mo contact was found to be effective in controlling the Schottky-barrier height at 1.2-1.3 eV without degradation of n-factor and reverse characteristics. We successfully obtained a 1-mm/sup 2/ Mo-4H-SiC SBD with a breakdown voltage (V/sub b/) of 4.15 kV and a specific on resistance (R/sub on/) of 9.07 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/, achieving a best V/sub b//sup 2//R/sub on/ value of 1898 MW/cm/sup 2/. We also obtained a 9-mm/sup 2/ Mo-4H-SiC SBD with V/sub b/ of 4.40 kV and R/sub on/ of 12.20 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/.     

10-kV, 123-m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC power DMOSFETs

10-kV, 123-m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ power DMOSFETs in 4H-SiC are demonstrated. A 42% reduction in R/sub on,sp/, compared to a previously reported value, was achieved by using an 8 /spl times/ 10/sup 14/ cm/sup -3/ doped, 85-/spl mu/m-thick drift epilayer. An effective channel mobility of 22 cm/sup 2//Vs was measured from a test MOSFET. A specific on-resistance of 123 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ were measured with a gate bias of 18 V, which corresponds to an E/sub ox/ of 3 MV/cm. A leakage current of 197 /spl mu/A was measured at a drain bias of 10 kV from a 4H-SiC DMOSFET with an active area of 4.24 /spl times/ 10/sup -3/ cm/sup 2/. A switching time of 100 ns was measured in 4.6-kV, 1.3-A switching measurements. This shows that the 4H-SiC power DMOSFETS are ideal for high-voltage, high-speed switching applications.     

Demonstration of 1789 V, 6.68 m/spl Omega/ /spl middot/ cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC merged-PiN-Schottky diodes

The design, fabrication and characterisation of a high performance 4H-SiC diode of 1789 V-6.6 A with a low differential specific-on resistance (R/sub SP/spl I.bar/ON/) of 6.68 m/spl Omega/ /spl middot/ cm/sup 2/, based on a 10.3 /spl mu/m 4H-SiC blocking layer doped to 6.6/spl times/10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/, is reported. The corresponding figure-of-merit of V/sub B//sup 2//R/sub SP/spl I.bar/ON/ for this diode is 479 MW/cm/sup 2/, which substantially surpasses previous records for all other MPS diodes.     

On-State Characteristics of SiC power UMOSFETs on 115-/spl mu/m drift Layers

We describe the on-state performance of trench oxide-protected SiC UMOSFETs on 115-/spl mu/m-thick n-type 4H-SiC epilayers designed for blocking voltages up to 14 kV. An on-state current density of 137 A/cm/sup 2/ and specific on-resistance of 228 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ are achieved at a gate bias of 40 V (oxide field of 2.67 MV/cm). The effect of current spreading on the specific on-resistance for finite-dimension devices is investigated, and appropriate corrections are made.     

Lateral RESURF MOSFET fabricated on 4H-SiC(0001/sup ~/) C-face

Lateral reduced surface field (RESURF) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been fabricated on 4H-SiC(0001/sup ~/) carbon face (C-face) substrates. The channel mobility of a lateral test MOSFET on a C-face was 41 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, which was much higher than 5 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s for that on a Si-face. The specific on-resistance of the lateral RESURF MOSFET on a C-face was 79/spl Omega/ /spl middot/ cm/sup 2/, at a gate voltage of 25 V and drain voltage of 1 V. The breakdown voltage was 460 V, which was 79% of the designed breakdown voltage of 600 V. We measured the temperature dependence of R/sub on, sp/ for the RESURF MOSFET on the C-face. The R/sub on, sp/ increased with the increase in temperature.     

8.5 m/spl Omega/ /spl middot/ cm/sub 2/ 600-V double-epitaxial MOSFETs in 4H-SiC

The most important issue in realizing a 4H-SiC vertical MOSFET is to improve the poor channel mobility at the MOS interface, which is related to high on-resistance. This letter focuses on a novel 4H-SiC vertical MOSFET device structure where a low acceptor concentration epitaxial layer is used as a channel. We call this structure a double-epitaxial MOSFET (DEMOSFET). In the structure, the p-well is composed of two p-type epitaxial layers, while an n-type region between the p-wells is formed by low-dose n-type ion implantation. A buried channel is formed at the surface of the upper p/sup $/epitaxial layer. A fabricated DEMOSFET showed an on-resistance of 8.5 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ at a gate voltage of 15 V and a blocking voltage of 600 V. This on-resistance is the lowest so far reported for a vertical MOSFET with a blocking voltage of 600 V.     

1710-V 2.77-m/spl Omega/cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC trenched and implanted vertical junction field-effect transistors

This letter reports the demonstration of a 4H-SiC trenched and implanted vertical-junction field-effect transistor (TI-VJFET). The p/sup +/n junction gates are created on the sidewalls of deep trenches by angled Al implantation, which eliminates the need for epitaxial regrowth during the JFET fabrication. Blocking voltages up to 1710 V has been achieved with a voltage supporting drift layer of only 9.5 /spl mu/m by using a two-step junction termination extension. The TI-VJFET shows a low specific on-resistance R/sub ON-sp/ of 2.77m/spl Omega/cm/sup 2/, corresponding to a record high value of V/sub B//R/sub ON-sp/ equal to 1056 MW/cm/sup 2/.     

DRAM plate electrode bias optimization for reducing leakage current in UV-O/sub 3/ and O/sub 2/ annealed CVD deposited Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/ dielectric films

A new plate biasing scheme is described which allowed the use of 65% higher supply voltage without increasing the leakage current for the UV-O/sub 3/ and O/sub 2/ annealed chemical-vapor-deposited tantalum pentaoxide dielectric film capacitors in stacked DRAM cells. Dielectric leakage was reduced by biasing the capacitor plate electrode to a voltage lower than the conventionally used value of V/sub cc//2. Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/ films with 3.9 nm effective gate oxide, 8.5 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/ capacitance and <0.3 /spl mu/A/cm/sup 2/ leakage at 100/spl deg/C and 3.3 V supply are demonstrated.<>     

Improvement of voltage linearity in high-/spl kappa/ MIM capacitors using HfO/sub 2/-SiO/sub 2/ stacked dielectric

It is demonstrated that the voltage coefficients of capacitance (VCC) in high-/spl kappa/ metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors can be actively engineered and voltage linearity can be significantly improved maintaining high capacitance density, by using a stacked insulator structure of high-/spl kappa/ and SiO/sub 2/ dielectrics. A MIM capacitor with capacitance density of 6 fF/spl mu/m/sup 2/ and quadratic VCC of only 14 ppm/V/sup 2/ has been demonstrated together with excellent frequency and temperature dependence (temperature coefficients of capacitance of 54 ppm /spl deg/C) as well as low leakage current of less than 10 nA/cm/sup 2/ up to 4 V at 125 /spl deg/C.     

InGaAs/InP DHBTs with 120-nm collector having simultaneously high f/sub /spl tau//, f/sub max//spl ges/450 GHz

InP/In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBT) have been designed for increased bandwidth digital and analog circuits, and fabricated using a conventional mesa structure. These devices exhibit a maximum 450 GHz f/sub /spl tau// and 490 GHz f/sub max/, which is the highest simultaneous f/sub /spl tau// and f/sub max/ for any HBT. The devices have been scaled vertically for reduced electron collector transit time and aggressively scaled laterally to minimize the base-collector capacitance associated with thinner collectors. The dc current gain /spl beta/ is /spl ap/ 40 and V/sub BR,CEO/=3.9 V. The devices operate up to 25 mW//spl mu/m/sup 2/ dissipation (failing at J/sub e/=10 mA//spl mu/m/sup 2/, V/sub ce/=2.5 V, /spl Delta/T/sub failure/=301 K) and there is no evidence of current blocking up to J/sub e//spl ges/12 mA//spl mu/m/sup 2/ at V/sub ce/=2.0 V from the base-collector grade. The devices reported here employ a 30-nm highly doped InGaAs base, and a 120-nm collector containing an InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice grade at the base-collector junction.     

Si interlayer passivation on germanium MOS capacitors with high-/spl kappa/ dielectric and metal gate

We have demonstrated the advantages of silicon interlayer passivation on germanium MOS devices, with CVD HfO/sub 2/ as the high-/spl kappa/ dielectric and PVD TaN as the gate electrode. A silicon interlayer between a germanium substrate and a high-/spl kappa/ dielectric, deposited using SiH/sub 4/ gas at 580/spl deg/C, significantly improved the electrical characteristics of germanium devices in terms of low D/sub it/ (7/spl times/10/sup 10//cm/sup 2/-eV), less C- V hysteresis and frequency dispersion. Low leakage current density of 5/spl times/10/sup -7/ A/cm/sup 2/ at 1 V bias with EOT of 12.4 /spl Aring/ was achieved. Post-metallization annealing caused continuing V/sub fb/ positive shift and J/sub g/ increase with increased annealing temperature, which was possibly attributed to Ge diffusion into the dielectric during annealing.     

High-density MIM capacitors (/spl sim/85 nF/cm/sup 2/) on organic substrates

For the first time, transferring the prefabricated capacitors on a silicon wafer onto FR-4 has been used to realize high-density metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors on an organic substrate. A high capacitance density /spl sim/85 nF/cm/sup 2/ was achieved on FR-4 substrate with PECVD silicon nitride as the dielectric layer. Excellent voltage coefficient (/spl sim/2.2 ppm/V/sup 2/) and temperature coefficient (/spl sim/38 ppm//spl deg/C) were obtained for capacitors on FR-4. Dielectric leakage and breakdown characteristics have been assessed, and the results demonstrated acceptable performance. Thus, this technology provides a new method to embed/integrate high-density capacitors on organic substrates for the system-in-package applications.     

A CMOS voltage reference based on weighted /spl Delta/V/sub GS/ for CMOS low-dropout linear regulators

A CMOS voltage reference, which is based on the weighted difference of the gate-source voltages of an NMOST and a PMOST operating in saturation region, is presented. The voltage reference is designed for CMOS low-dropout linear regulators and has been implemented in a standard 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology (V/sub thn//spl ap/|V/sub thp/|/spl ap/0.9 V at 0/spl deg/C). The occupied chip area is 0.055 mm/sup 2/. The minimum supply voltage is 1.4 V, and the maximum supply current is 9.7 /spl mu/A. A typical mean uncalibrated temperature coefficient of 36.9 ppm//spl deg/C is achieved, and the typical mean line regulation is /spl plusmn/0.083%/V. The power-supply rejection ratio without any filtering capacitor at 100 Hz and 10 MHz are -47 and -20 dB, respectively. Moreover, the measured noise density with a 100-nF filtering capacitor at 100 Hz is 152 nV//spl radic/(Hz) and that at 100 kHz is 1.6 nV//spl radic/(Hz).     

4H-SiC normally-off vertical junction field-effect transistor with high current density

4H-silicon carbide (SiC) normally-off vertical junction field-effect transistor (JFET) is developed in a purely vertical configuration without internal lateral JFET gates. The 2.1-/spl mu/m vertical p/sup +/n junction gates are created on the side walls of deep trenches by tilted aluminum (Al) implantation. Normally-off operation with blocking voltage V/sub bl/ of 1 726 V is demonstrated with an on-state current density of 300 A/cm/sup 2/ at a drain voltage of 3 V. The low specific on-resistance R/sub on-sp/ of 3.6 m/spl Omega/cm/sup 2/ gives the V/sub bl//sup 2//R/sub on-sp/ value of 830 MW/cm/sup 2/, surpassing the past records of both unipolar and bipolar 4H-SiC power switches.     

A novel program-erasable high-/spl kappa/ AlN-Si MIS capacitor

We demonstrate a programmable-erasable MIS capacitor with a single layer high-/spl kappa/ AlN dielectric on Si having a high capacitance density of /spl sim/5 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/. It has low program and erase voltages of +4 and -4 V, respectively. Such an erase function is not available in other single layer Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, AlON, or other known high-/spl kappa/ dielectric capacitors, where the threshold voltage (V/sub th/) shifts continuously with voltage. This device exhibits good data retention with a V/sub th/ change of only 0.06 V after 10 000 s.     

A high-density MIM capacitor (13 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/) using ALD HfO/sub 2/ dielectrics

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors with different HfO/sub 2/ thickness have been investigated. The results show that both the capacitance density and voltage coefficients of capacitance (VCCs) increase with decreasing HfO/sub 2/ thickness. In addition, it is found that the VCCs decrease logarithmically with increasing thickness. Furthermore, the MIM capacitor with 10-nm HfO/sub 2/ shows a record high capacitance density of 13 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/ and a VCC of 607 ppm/V, which can meet the requirement of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. It can also provide a low leakage current of 5.95 /spl times/ 10/sup -8/A/cm/sup 2/ at room temperature at 1 V, low tangent values below 0.05, and a small frequency dependence. These results indicate that the devices are suitable for use in silicon integrated circuit applications.