SiC power MOSFET gate oxide breakdown reliability – Current status

Published

May 3, 2018

Author(s)

Kin P. Cheung

Abstract

SiC power MOSFET is poised to take off commercially. Gate oxide breakdown reliability is an important obstacle standing is the way. Early prediction of poor intrinsic reliability comparing to silicon MOSFET, while theoretically sound, has now proven way too pessimistic. Experimental data from good quality SiC MOSCAP turns out to have better breakdown lifetime than its silicon counterpart, based on data available in the literature. This surprising result is the consequence of improper extraction of intrinsic lifetime in the presence of extrinsic failures. Even though intrinsic lifetime is no longer an issue, SiC MOSFET gate oxide breakdown reliability is not out of the wood yet. This is because, for thick oxide, it is the extrinsic failure that determine lifetime, not intrinsic failure. Unfortunately, up to now there is no properly done study of SiC gate oxide extrinsic breakdown study reported in the literature.

Proceedings Title

2018 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS)

Conference Dates

March 11-15, 2018

Conference Location

Burlingame, CA

Conference Title

International Reliability Physics Symposium

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/IRPS.2018.8353545

Keywords

SiC, power MOSFET, TDDB, gate oxide, reliability

Citation

Cheung, K. (2018), SiC power MOSFET gate oxide breakdown reliability – Current status, 2018 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS), Burlingame, CA, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/IRPS.2018.8353545 (Accessed April 26, 2024)