Lateral silicon carbide semiconductor device having a drift region with a varying doping level

US6011278A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Philips Electronics North America Corporation · US

Inventors

• Dev Alok · Raleigh, US
• Satyendranath Mukherjee · Yorktown Heights, US
• Emil Arnold · Chappaqua, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 28, 1997
• Grant date: Jan 4, 2000
• Expiry date: Oct 28, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01L2924/0002

Abstract

A lateral silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor device includes a SIC substrate of a first conductivity type, a SiC epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type on the substrate and a SiC surface layer on the SiC epitaxial layer. The SiC surface layer has a SiC first region of the first conductivity type, a SiC lateral drift region of a second conductivity type opposite to that of the first conductivity type adjacent the first region and forming a p-n junction therewith, and a SiC second region of the second conductivity type spaced apart from the first region by the drift region. By providing the drift region with a variable doping level which increases in a direction from the first region to the second region, compact SiC semiconductor devices such as high-voltage diodes or MOSFETs can be formed which can operate at high voltages, high temperatures and high frequencies, thus providing a substantial advantage over known devices.