4H-SiC p-n diodes and gate turnoff thyristors for high-power, high-temperature applications

This paper presents an overview of SIC power devices. The progress in pn ju nction diode development is described. The data on 10 A, 1000 V, packaged 4 H-SiC ion-implanted p(+)nn(+) diode are presented. II is found that in orde r to develop high voltage, high current diodes, it is critical to reduce di slocation density below 10(3) cm(-2), and increase substrate doping of n(+) 4H-SiC above 10(19) cm(-3). It is simply not enough to reduce the micropip e density to below 1 cm(-2). The paper introduces a new power switching dev ice configuration, namely, JFET controlled thyristor (JCT). II is the most promising near term SIC switching device given its high power potential, ea se of turnoff, potential for 500 degrees C operation and resulting reductio n in cooling requirements. Experimental demonstration of the hybrid,JCT is presented with a turn-off measurement of 1 A in less than 100 ns. It is fur ther concluded that in order to take advantage of SiC power devices, high t emperature packages and components with double sided attachment need to be developed along with the SiC power devices. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.