第2回　物理工学科教室談話会（講師：Prof.T. Kimoto）

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Abstract：Power semiconductor devices have attracted increasing attention as key components in a variety of power conversion systems. Although the performance of Si power devices has remarkably been improved, silicon carbide (SiC) (and gallium nitride (GaN)) is promising for advanced low-loss and fast power devices, which can substantially outperform Si-based power devices. Through recent progress in SiC growth and device technologies, production of 600 –1700 V SiC Schottky barrier diodes and power MOSFETs has started, and remarkable improvement of energy efficiency has been demonstrated in real systems such as power supplies, air conditioners, photovoltaic power converters, and railcars. In spite of the promising potential of SiC power devices, basic understanding of material science associated with SiC is still very poor, leading to the lack of guidelines for defect control and thereby further improvement of device performance/reliability. In this seminar, several important topics including the oxide/semiconductor interface, carrier lifetimes, and high-field phenomena in SiC are reviewed.
SiC power MOSFETs are an ideal power switch owing to the low on-resistance and fast switching. However, the interface properties of SiO2/SiC MOS structures are still far from a satisfactory level, severely affecting the performance and reliability of SiC power MOSFETs. To understand the MOS physics, the interface defects have been characterized by several unique techniques, and the correlation with channel mobility has been established. Control of carrier lifetimes in SiC is a key technology for SiC bipolar devices such as PiN diodes, thyristors, and IGBTs. The author’s group identified the lifetime-killing defect in SiC and revealed its microstructure; that is carbon monovacancy. The carbon vacancy defects can be almost completely eliminated or intentionally generated by several techniques. By combination of these processes, control of carrier lifetimes in SiC has been demonstrated.
Junction breakdown is mainly governed by impact ionization caused by high-energy carriers under high electric field. The author’s group fabricated unique diode structures and succeeded to accurately determine the electron and hole impact ionization coefficients in the wide electric field and temperature ranges. A few unusual behaviors
are observed in impact ionization coefficients, and these phenomena may be attributed to a unique electronic band structure of SiC.
紹介教員：押山淳教授、樽茶清悟教授（ともに物理工学専攻）