0000000000128895
AUTHOR
K. Niskanen
Proton irradiation-induced reliability degradation of SiC power MOSFET
The effect of 53 MeV proton irradiation on the reliability of silicon carbide power MOSFETs was investigated. Post-irradiation gate voltage stress was applied and early failures in time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) test were observed for irradiated devices. The applied drain voltage during irradiation affects the degradation probability observed by TDDB tests. Proton-induced single event burnouts (SEB) were observed for devices which were biased close to their maximum rated voltage. The secondary particle production as a result of primary proton interaction with the device material was simulated with the Geant4-based toolkit. peerReviewed
Effect of 20 MeV Electron Radiation on Long Term Reliability of SiC Power MOSFETs
The effect of 20 MeV electron radiation on the lifetime of the silicon carbide power MOSFETs was investigated. Accelerated constant voltage stress (CVS) was applied on the pristine and irradiated devices and time-to-breakdown ( T BD ) and charge-to-breakdown ( Q BD ) of gate oxide were extracted and compared. The effect of electron radiation on the device lifetime reduction can be observed at lower stress gate-to-source voltage ( V GS ) levels. The models of T BD and Q BD dependence on the initial gate current ( I G0 ) are proposed which can be used to describe the device breakdown behaviour. peerReviewed
Heavy-ion induced single event effects and latent damages in SiC power MOSFETs
The advantages of silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs make this technology attractive for space, avionics and high-energy accelerator applications. However, the current commercial technologies are still susceptible to Single Event Effects (SEEs) and latent damages induced by the radiation environment. Two types of latent damage were experimentally observed in commercial SiC power MOSFETs exposed to heavy-ions. One is observed at bias voltages just below the degradation onset and it involves the gate oxide. The other damage type is observed at bias voltages below the Single Event Burnout (SEB) limit, and it is attributed to alterations of the SiC crystal-lattice. Focused ion beam (FIB) and s…