Analysis of the novel Si/SiC heterojunction IGBT characteristics by TCAD simulation

In this paper, a novel insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) structure with a wide bandgap semiconductor material heterojunction is proposed for the first time. The main feature of the new IGBT structure device is the combine of the wide bandgap material SiC and the Si material to form a heterojunction, which utilizes the high critical breakdown electric field of SiC materials. When the proposed device breaks down, the innovative terminal technology of Breakdown Point Transfer which elevates device longitudinal electric field peak begins to play a role, while introducing a high electric field peak near the gate of the IGBT device into the SiC material and making the device can bear a higher breakdown voltage (BV). The analysis results show that the BV of the Si/SiC IGBT is 3-4 times higher than that of the Si IGBT. The switching characteristics of the Si/SiC IGBT can be improved due to the low minority carrier lifetime of SiC materials compared with the Si IGBT. The interfacial effect of the Si/SiC is analyzed to guide the preparation of the Si/SiC IGBT.