Robustness of SuperJunction structures against cosmic ray induced breakdown

In this paper we present a new design approach which dramatically improves the robustness of power semiconductor device against cosmic rays induced breakdown. This failure mode occurs during continuous operation at a DC rail voltage, which in practice is well below the breakdown rating (typically half of the breakdown). This failure is more prominent for higher breakdown rated devices (above 2 kV) and represents one of the main causes of concern, especially if the power systems are operated at higher altitude. Using a mathematical model for the calculation of the cosmic ray breakdown failure rate proposed by Zeller [1], we show that by employing a SuperJunction structure in the drift region of a high voltage diode we can achieve a great improvement in the robustness of the device against cosmic ray radiation. Since the cosmic ray failure rate is strongly dependent on the electric field distribution, the two-dimensional nature of the SuperJunction electric field with lower peaks and more even distribution offers a huge advantage over the use of standard PiN devices. Finally, a physical two-dimensional electric field model for the SuperJunction structures is developed which is then imported into Zeller’s model to compute the cosmic ray failure rate for different DC voltage rails.