There is a trade-off between nominal forward current density and surge current capability for 4.5kV SiC MPS diodes. This paper explains the physical mechanisms underlying this trade-off and identifies the relevant design parameters. The dependencies of this trade-off on the layout parameters and physical parameters are described by analytical relations (compact model). An equivalent lumped element circuit is set up for an intuitive interpretation of the functional components of a SiC MPS diode. Eventually, we investigate several novel device structures with a view to improving the forward characteristics under regular and overcurrent operating conditions

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This work aims at extending the predictive simulation technique for cosmic ray-induced failure analysis from Si PiN diodes [1] to SiC PiN diodes. Accurate 3D cylindrical-symmetric transient simulations were performed with a minimum mesh size of 20nm at the center track of the impinging ion and a maximum time step of 0.1ps during the development of the ion-induced transient current. We made a comparative study between a SiC PiN diode and a Si PiN diode with the same blocking voltage of 1.5kV, using the same heavy ion transportation models. In the simulation, we observed different ion-induced current transients, differing not only in the peak value of the current, but also in its duration. Due to different physical mechanisms, the dependence of the ion-induced current on the reverse pre-bias voltage and the numerical mesh adaptations are also different. Eventually, we brieflydiscuss electro-thermal simulations, which indicate once more that the ion-induced transient current in the SiC PiN diodes under consideration is primarily drift current and involves only negligible impact ionization.

The wide band gap of SiC semiconductor devices constitutes a serious challenge to build good Ohmic contacts on the surface of the p-type material. This is reflected in the numerical analysis of ”realistic” devices, where we have to cope with serious problems, such as a shifting threshold voltage, reduced forward conductivity, and no noticeable conductivity modulation by minority carrier injection from p+-emitters, in matching measured data with simulation results, as a consequence of the significant impact of non-ideal poor Ohmic contacts. In this work, we used a Schottky contact model together with a barrier tunneling model, instead of common ideal Ohmic contact model, to simulate the non-ideal Ohmic contact on SiC MPS diodes. Based on this approach, the I-V characteristics of real Ohmic contacts can be reproduced in high-fidelity simulations, providing us physical insight of the observed operational behavior.