Low-Temperature Annealing of Radiation-Induced Degradation in 4H-SiC Bipolar Junction Transistors

• Published in: IEEE electron device letters Vol. 31; no. 7; pp. 707 - 709
• Main Authors: Hallén, Anders, Nawaz, Muhammad, Zaring, Carina, Usman, Muhammad, Domeij, Martin, Östling, Mikael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.07.2010; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Annealing; bipolar junction transistor (BJT); Breakdown; Carbon; current gain; Degradation; Devices; Electric breakdown; Electric variables; Electrical engineering, electronics and photonics; Elektroteknik, elektronik och fotonik; Junction transistors; Metallization; Passivation; point defects; Protons; Radiation hardness; Semiconductor devices; Silicon carbide; silicon carbide (SiC); Stability; TECHNOLOGY; TEKNIKVETENSKAP; Testing; Voltage
• ISSN: 0741-3106; 1558-0563; 1558-0563
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2010.2047237

Radiation hardness is tested for 4H-SiC n-p-n bipolar junction transistors designed for 1200-V breakdown voltage by implanting MeV protons and carbon ions at different doses and energies. The current gain is found to be a very sensitive parameter, and a fluence as low as 1 × 10 7 cm -2 of 10 MeV 12 C can be clearly detected in the forward-output characteristics, I C (V CE ) . At this low dose, no influence of ion radiation is seen in the open-collector characteristics, I B (V EB ), or the reverse bias leakage and breakdown properties. Moreover, by annealing the implanted devices at 420°C for 30 min, a complete recovery of the electrical characteristics is accomplished.