4H-SiC Integrated circuits for high temperature and harsh environment applications

Silicon Carbide (SiC) has received a special attention in the last decades thanks to its superior electrical, mechanical and chemical proprieties. SiC is mostly used for applications where Silicon is limited, becoming a proper material for both unipolar and bipolar power device able to work under high power, high frequency and high temperature conditions. Aside from the outstanding theoretical and practical advantages still to be proved in SiC devices, the need for more accurate models for the design and optimization of these devices, along with the development of integrated circuits (ICs) on SiC is indispensable for the further success of modern power electronics. The design and development of SiC ICs has become a necessity since the high temperature operation of ICs is expected to enable important improvements in aerospace, automotive, energy production and other industrial systems. Due to the last impressive progresses in the manufacturing of high quality SiC substrates, the possibility of developing ICs applications is now feasible. SiC unipolar transistors, such as JFETs and MESFETs show a promising potential for digital ICs operating at high temperature and in harsh environments. The reported ICs on SiC have been realized so far with either a small number of elements, or with a low integration density. Therefore, this work demonstrates that by means of our SiC MESFET technology, multi-stage digital ICs fabrication containing a large number of 4H-SiC devices is feasible, accomplishing some of the most important ICs requirements. The ultimate objective is the development of SiC digital building blocks by transferring the Si CMOS topologies, hence demonstrating that the ICs SiC technology can be an important competitor of the Si ICs technology especially in application fields in which high temperature, high switching speed and harsh environment operations are required. The study starts with the current normally-on SiC MESFET CNM complete analysis of an already fabricated MESFET. It continues with the modeling and fabrication of a new planar-MESFET structure together with new epitaxial resistors specially suited for high temperature and high integration density. A novel device isolation technique never used on SiC before is approached. A fabrication process flow with three metal levels fully compatible with the CMOS technology is defined. An exhaustive experimental characterization at room and high temperature (300ºC) and Spice parameter extractions for both structures are performed. In order to design digital ICs on SiC with the previously developed devices, the current available topologies for normally-on transistors are discussed. The circuits design using Spice modeling, the process technology, the fabrication and the testing of the 4H-SiC MESFET elementary logic gates library at high temperature and high frequencies are performed. The MESFET logic gates behavior up to 300ºC is analyzed. Finally, this library has allowed us implementing complex multi-stage logic circuits with three metal levels and a process flow fully compatible with a CMOS technology. This study demonstrates that the development of important SiC digital blocks by transferring CMOS topologies (such as Master Slave Data Flip-Flop and Data-Reset Flip-Flop) is successfully achieved. Hence, demonstrating that our 4H-SiC MESFET technology enables the fabrication of mixed signal ICs capable to operate at high temperature (300ºC) and high frequencies (300kHz). We consider this study an important step ahead regarding the future ICs developments on SiC. Finally, experimental irradiations were performed on W-Schotthy diodes and mesa-MESFET devices (with the same Schottky gate than the planar SiC MESFET) in order to study their radiation hardness stability. The good radiation endurance of SiC Schottky-gate devices is proven. It is expected that the new developed devices with the same W-Schottky gate, to have a similar behavior in radiation rich environments.Postprint (published version

Smart Power Devices and ICs Using GaAs and Wide and Extreme Bandgap Semiconductors

We evaluate and compare the performance and potential of GaAs and of wide and extreme bandgap semiconductors (SiC, GaN, Ga2O3, diamond), relative to silicon, for power electronics applications. We examine their device structures and associated materials/process technologies and selectively review the recent experimental demonstrations of high voltage power devices and IC structures of these semiconductors. We discuss the technical obstacles that still need to be addressed and overcome before large-scale commercialization commences

Circuits Techniques for Wireless Sensing Systems in High-Temperature Environments

RÉSUMÉ Dans ce projet, nous proposons de nouvelles techniques d’intégration basées sur la technologie de nitrure de gallium (GaN). Ces techniques permettent de mettre en œuvre un système de transmission de données sans fil entièrement intégré dédié aux capteurs de surveillance pour des applications d'environnement hostile. Le travail nécessite de trouver une technologie capable de résister à l'environnement sévère, principalement à haute température, et de permettre un niveau d'intégration élevé. Le système réalisé serait le premier dispositif de transmission de données basé sur la technologie GaN. En plus de supporter les conditions de haute température (HT) dépassant 600 oC, le système de transmission sans fil attendu devrait fonctionner à travers une barrière métallique séparant le module émetteur du récepteur. Une revue de la littérature sur les applications en environnements hostiles ainsi que sur l'électronique correspondante a été réalisée pour sélectionner la technologie AlGaN/GaN HEMT (transistor à haute mobilité d'électrons) comme une technologie appropriée. Le kit de conception GaN500, fourni par le Conseil national de recherches du Canada (CNRC), a été adopté pour concevoir et mettre en œuvre le système proposé. Cette technologie a été initialement introduite pour desservir les applications radiofréquences (RF) et micro-ondes. Par conséquent, elle n'avait pas été validée pour concevoir et fabriquer des circuits intégrés analogiques et numériques complexes et son utilisation à des températures extrêmes n’était pas validée. Nous avons donc caractérisé à haute température des dispositifs fabriqués en GaN500 et des éléments passifs intégrés correspondants ont été réalisés. Ces composants ont été testés sur la plage de température comprise entre 25 et 600 oC dans cette thèse. Les résultats de caractérisation ont été utilisés pour extraire les modèles HT des HEMT intégrés et des éléments passifs à utiliser dans les simulations. En outre, plusieurs composants intégrés basés sur la technologie GaN500, notamment des NOT, NOR, NAND, XOR, XNOR, registres, éléments de délais et oscillateurs ont été mis en œuvre et testés en HT. Des circuits analogiques à base de GaN500, comprenant un amplificateur de tension, un comparateur, un redresseur simple alternance, un redresseur double alternance, une pompe de charge et une référence de tension ont également été mis en œuvre et testés en HT. Le système de transmission de données mis en œuvre se compose d'un module de modulation situé dans la partie émettrice et d'un module de démodulation situé dans la partie réceptrice.----------ABSTRACT In this project, we propose new integrated-circuit design techniques based on the Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology to implement a fully-integrated data transmission system dedicated to wireless sensing in harsh environment applications. The goal in this thesis is to find a proper technology able to withstand harsh-environments (HEs), mainly characterized by high temperatures, and to allow a high-integration level. The reported design is the first data transmission system based on GaN technology. In addition to high temperature (HT) environment exceeding 600 oC, the expected wireless transmission systems may need to operate through metallic barriers separating the transmitting from the receiving modules. A wide literature review on the HE applications and corresponding electronics has been done to select the AlGaN/GaN HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) technology. The GaN500 design kit, provided by National Research Council of Canada (NRC), was adopted to design and implement the proposed system. This technology was initially provided to serve radio frequency (RF) and microwave circuits and applications. Consequently, it was not validated to implement complex integrated systems and to withstand extreme temperatures. Therefore, the high-temperature characterization of fabricated GaN500 devices and corresponding integrated passive elements was performed over the temperature range 25-600 oC in this thesis. The characterization results were used to extract HT models of the integrated HEMTs and passive elements to be used in simulations. Also, several GaN500-based digital circuits including NOT, NOR, NAND, XOR, XNOR, register, Delay and Ring oscillator were implemented and tested at HT. GaN500-based Analog circuits including front-end amplifier, comparator, half-bridge rectifier, full-bridge rectifier, charge pump and voltage reference were implemented and tested at HT as well. The implemented data transmission system consists of a modulation module located in the transmitting part and a demodulation block located in the receiving part. The proposed modulation system is based on the delta-sigma modulation technique and composed of a front-end amplifier, a comparator, a register, a charge pump and a ring oscillator. The output stage of the transmitter is intended to perform the load-shift-keying (LSK) modulation required to accomplish the data transmission through the dedicated inductive link. At the receiver level, three demodulation topologies were proposed to acquire the delivered LSK-modulated signals

Silicon carbide junction field effect transistor integrated circuits for hostile environments

PhD ThesisSilicon carbide (SiC), in particular its 4H polytype, has long been recognised as an appropriate semiconductor for producing hostile environment electronics due to its wide energy band gap, large chemical bond strength and high mechanical hardness. A strong research foundation has facilitated the development of numerous sensor structures capable of operating at high temperatures and in corrosive atmospheres. Front-end electronics suitable for in situ signal conditioning are however lacking. Junction field effect transistors (JFETs) circumvent the pitfalls of contemporary alternative SiC transistor variants and have been found to operate predictably and consistently under such extreme conditions. This thesis demonstrates for the first time the capability of producing the necessary stable and high-performance interface circuits from n-channel lateral depletion-mode (NLDM) JFETs. The temperature dependence of pertinent bulk 4H–SiC material parameters relevant for describing the operation of macroscopic JFETs were initially studied. An accurate phenomenological model was developed to account for the variation of the thermal equilibrium free carrier concentrations. The position of the electrochemical potential and the distribution of free electron energies were found to change markedly when conduction band nonparabolicity, higher energy intrinsic bands and extrinsic effects were accounted for. These in turn were found to influence the determination of p-n junction contact potentials. The worst case error introduced through use of the Boltzmann approximation when applied to the channel and gate regions of the JFETs under study, having nominal doping concentrations of 1 1017 cm3 and 2 1019 cm3, respectively, were approximately 0:1% and 2%, respectively. A set of efficient and well behaved closed form expressions were subsequently developed for the free carrier concentrations in the framework of the Joyce- Dixon approximation (JDA) which are ideally suited for use in circuit simulations. Expressions for the electron conductively effective mass and an appropriate weighting function for the momentum relaxation time were subsequently identified. While the conductivity effective mass along the basal plane remained almost independent of temperature the non-parabolic band dispersion in the direction of principle axis introduced a temperature variation of 19% and 21% between 25 C and 400 C in the first and second conduction bands, respectively. Monolithically integrated 4H–SiC signal-level homo-epitaxial NLDM JFETs, p-n junction diodes and resistors were electrically characterised between room temperature and 400 C and their static and dynamic properties studied. Their behaviours were found to be well represented by macroscopic drift-diffusion models and were in agreement with predictions based on the bulk material properties. The intrinsic voltage gain of the fabricated JFET structures with nominal 9 μm gate length, 300nm channel depth and 250 μm gate width, under typical bias conditions, was roughly 100. As a consequence of the finite doping concentration in the buffer layer beneath the active device channel, with an experimentally determined value of approximately 3 1015 cm3, the devices under study were found to exhibit a strong body-effect. The thermal performance of the utilised tungsten capped annealed nickel-titanium and aluminium-titanium contacts, on highly doped n- and p-type regions, respectively, were investigated and appropriate methods for their characterisation described. The lowest recorded value of specific contact resistance was 1:90(50) 105 cm2 with a corresponding sheet resistance of 7:89(9) 102 = . Lateral current flow through the contact side wall and the difference in sheet resistance under the contact were found to increase the value of the specific contact resistance determined from transfer length method (TLM) test structures by as much as 10% for n-type contacts. While exhibiting much larger contact resistance, the p-type contacts were found to have negligible impact on device performance due to the high impedance of the gate-channel and body-channel p-n junctions under typical operation. Physics based, Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE) compatible, integrated circuit (IC) consistent compact models were developed that are congruent with experimental measurements over the aforementioned range of temperature and across all essential bias levels. Most notably, a self-contained, asymmetric double-gated, non-selfaligned JFET model was developed that accurately accounts for the body-effect, voltage dependent mobility and temperature. An accurate yet efficient solver of the charge neutrality equation within each region of the device is utilised to account for incomplete ionisation of dopants and the temperature dependence of the p-n junction contact potentials. Meticulous agreement with experimental measurements was attained from a minimal number of input parameters. The modelled devices were used to simulate pertinent IC building blocks, including single stage and differential amplifiers, level-shifters and voltage buffers. The finite bodytransconductance of active load transistors were identified as a major degrading factor for the voltage gain. Practical methods to circumvent this are discussed with the aid of appropriate small-signal equivalent models. Finally, a design was presented for a two-stage 4H–SiC operational amplifier (op-amp) with direct current (DC) stability over the entire temperature range of study. Low-frequency small-signal voltage gains of 80 dB and 70 dB were achieved at 25 C and 400 C, respectively when utilising a 30V supply. A closed-loop non-inverting op-amp configuration with an ideal gain of 11 was then simulated and found to vary by just 1% between 25 C and 400 C. Such amplifiers are of great utility and form the cornerstone of numerous useful and important electronic systems.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and BAE Systems Maritime for financially supporting this research project

A Silicon Carbide Linear Voltage Regulator for High Temperature Applications

Current market demands have pushed the capabilities of silicon to the edge. High temperature and high power applications require a semiconductor device to operate reliably in very harsh environments. This situation has awakened interests in other types of semiconductors, usually with a higher bandgap than silicon\u27s, as the next venue for the fabrication of integrated circuits (IC) and power devices. Silicon Carbide (SiC) has so far proven to be one of the best options in the power devices field. This dissertation presents the first attempt to fabricate a SiC linear voltage regulator. This circuit would provide a power management option for developing SiC processes due to its relatively simple implementation and yet, a performance acceptable to today\u27s systems applications. This document details the challenges faced and methods needed to design and fabricate the circuit as well as measured data corroborating design simulation results

Physics and Technology of Silicon Carbide Devices

Recently, some SiC power devices such as Schottky-barrier diodes (SBDs), metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs), junction FETs (JFETs), and their integrated modules have come onto the market. However, to stably supply them and reduce their cost, further improvements for material characterizations and those for device processing are still necessary. This book abundantly describes recent technologies on manufacturing, processing, characterization, modeling, and so on for SiC devices. In particular, for explanation of technologies, I was always careful to argue physics underlying the technologies as much as possible. If this book could be a little helpful to progress of SiC devices, it will be my unexpected happiness