Reliability aspects of SiC Schottky diodes

• Published in: Physica status solidi. A, Applications and materials science Vol. 206; no. 10; pp. 2295 - 2307
• Main Authors: Holz, Matthias, Hilsenbeck, Jochen, Rupp, Roland
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.10.2009; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley-VCH
• Subjects: 71.20.Nr; 84.30.Jc; 85.30.Hi; 89.20.Bb; 89.20.Kk; Applied sciences; Diodes; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electronic equipment and fabrication. Passive components, printed wiring boards, connectics; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Optoelectronic devices; Power electronics, power supplies; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Inverter; High performance; Power gain; Durability; Power supply; Power electronics; Switching; Optimization; Light emitting diode; Silicon carbide; High voltage; Electronic packaging; Optoelectronic device; Power device; Properties of materials; Schottky barrier diode; Reliability; High frequency; Microassembling; Electrical characteristic
• ISSN: 1862-6300; 1862-6319
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.200925083

In recent years, silicon carbide (SiC) high‐voltage power devices have gained an ever‐increasing market share. The fast development of new device concepts and technologies, e.g. for SiC Schottky diodes, has led to devices with superior switching behaviour, which renders SiC power devices especially favourable for high‐frequency applications. As of today, SiC devices enter various fields like, e.g. server power supplies, solar inverters, and drives. These applications pose quite different requirements not only on the electrical properties, but also on the long‐term reliability of the devices. In this paper, we describe in detail how Infineon's SiC Schottky diodes excel the reliability requirements. We point out how material properties, device design and packaging technology affect the overall device reliability and how they can be optimized. In addition, we describe measurement results after stress tests that go far beyond standard stress tests according to JEDEC. E.g., we show that SiC devices can safely be operated at high voltage slopes of 120 V/ns. In addition, we show that the use of high performance die attach further improves the device properties and reliability. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)