This thesis aims to bring an understanding to the silicon carbide (SiC) bipolar junction transistor (BJT). SiC power devices are superior to the silicon IGBT in several ways. They are for instance, able to operate with higher efficiency, at higher frequencies, and at higher junction temperatures. From a system point of view the SiC power device could decrease the cost and complexity of cooling, reduce the size and weight of the system, and enable the system to endure harsher environments. The three main SiC power device designs are discussed with a focus on the BJT. The SiC BJT is compared to the SiC junction field-effect transistor (JFET) and the metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). The potential of employing SiC power devices in applications, ranging from induction heating to high-voltage direct current (HVDC), is presented. The theory behind the state-of-the-art dual-source (2SRC) base driver that was presented by Rabkowski et al. a few years ago is described. This concept of proportional base drivers is introduced with a focus on the discretized proportional base drivers (DPBD). By implementing the DPBD concept and building a prototype it is shown that the steady-state consumption of the base driver can be reduced considerably.  The aspects of the reverse conduction of the SiC BJT are presented. It is shown to be of importance to consider the reduced voltage drop over the base-emitter junction. Last the impact of SiC unipolar and bipolar devices in series-resonant (SLR) converters is presented. Two full-bridges are designed and constructed, one with SiC MOSFETs utilizing the body diode for reverse conduction during the dead-time, and the second with SiC BJTs with anti-parallel SiC Schottky diodes. It is found that the SiC power devices, with their absence of tail current, are ideal devices to fully utilize the soft-switching properties that the SLR converters offer. The SiC MOSFET benefits from its possibility to utilize reverse conduction with a low voltage drop. It is also found that the size of capacitance of the snubbers can be reduced compare to state-of-the-art silicon technology. High switching frequencies of 200 kHz are possible while still keeping the losses low. A dead-time control strategy for each device is presented. The dual control (DuC) algorithm is tested with the SiC devices and compared to frequency modulation (FM). The analytical investigations presented in this thesis are confirmed by experimental results on several laboratory prototype converters. / <p>QC 20150529</p>

No description available.

This thesis deals with the main aspects in chemical vapordeposition (CVD) of silicon (Si) and silicon-germanium (Si1-xGex) films for high-speed bipolar transistors.In situdoping of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si)using phosphine (PH3) and disilane (Si2H6) in a low-pressure CVD reactor was investigated toestablish a poly-Si emitter fabrication process. The growthkinetics and P incorporation was studied for amorphous Si filmgrowth. Hydrogen (H) incorporated in the as-deposited films wasrelated to growth kinetics and the energy for H2desorption was extracted. Film properties such asresistivity, mobility, carrier concentration and grain growthwere studied after crystallization using either furnaceannealing or rapid thermal annealing (RTA). In order tointegrate an epitaxial base, non-selective epitaxial growth(NSEG) of Si and SiGe in a lamp-heated single-waferreduced-pressure CVD reactor was examined. The growth kineticsfor Si epitaxy and poly-Si deposition showed a differentdependence on the deposition conditions i.e. temperature andpressure. The growth rate difference was mainly due to growthkinetics rather than wafer surface emissivity effects. However,it was observed that the growth rate for Si epitaxy and poly-Sideposition was varying during growth and the time-dependencewas attributed to wafer surface emissivity variations. A modelto describe the emissivity effects was established, taking intoconsideration kinetics and the reactor heating mechanisms suchas heat absorption, emission andconduction. Growth ratevariations in opening of different sizes (local loading) andfor different oxide surface coverage (global loading) wereinvestigated. No local loading effects were observed, whileglobal loading effects were attributed to chemical as well astemperature effects. Finally, misfit dislocations formed in theSiGe epitaxy during NSEG were found to originate from theinterface between the epitaxial and polycrystalline regions.The dislocations tended to propagate across the activearea. <b>Keywords:</b>chemical vapor deposition (CVD), bipolarjunction transistor (BJT), heterojunction bipolar transistor(HBT), silicon-germanium (SiGe), epitaxy, poly-Si emitter,in situdoping, non-selective epitaxy (NSEG), loadingeffect, emissivity effect

No description available.

<p>This thesis deals with the main aspects in chemical vapordeposition (CVD) of silicon (Si) and silicon-germanium (Si_1-xGe_x) films for high-speed bipolar transistors.<i>In situ</i>doping of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si)using phosphine (PH₃) and disilane (Si₂H₆) in a low-pressure CVD reactor was investigated toestablish a poly-Si emitter fabrication process. The growthkinetics and P incorporation was studied for amorphous Si filmgrowth. Hydrogen (H) incorporated in the as-deposited films wasrelated to growth kinetics and the energy for H₂desorption was extracted. Film properties such asresistivity, mobility, carrier concentration and grain growthwere studied after crystallization using either furnaceannealing or rapid thermal annealing (RTA). In order tointegrate an epitaxial base, non-selective epitaxial growth(NSEG) of Si and SiGe in a lamp-heated single-waferreduced-pressure CVD reactor was examined. The growth kineticsfor Si epitaxy and poly-Si deposition showed a differentdependence on the deposition conditions i.e. temperature andpressure. The growth rate difference was mainly due to growthkinetics rather than wafer surface emissivity effects. However,it was observed that the growth rate for Si epitaxy and poly-Sideposition was varying during growth and the time-dependencewas attributed to wafer surface emissivity variations. A modelto describe the emissivity effects was established, taking intoconsideration kinetics and the reactor heating mechanisms suchas heat absorption, emission andconduction. Growth ratevariations in opening of different sizes (local loading) andfor different oxide surface coverage (global loading) wereinvestigated. No local loading effects were observed, whileglobal loading effects were attributed to chemical as well astemperature effects. Finally, misfit dislocations formed in theSiGe epitaxy during NSEG were found to originate from theinterface between the epitaxial and polycrystalline regions.The dislocations tended to propagate across the activearea.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>chemical vapor deposition (CVD), bipolarjunction transistor (BJT), heterojunction bipolar transistor(HBT), silicon-germanium (SiGe), epitaxy, poly-Si emitter,<i>in situ</i>doping, non-selective epitaxy (NSEG), loadingeffect, emissivity effect</p>

Over the last decade, electronics operating at high temperatures have been increasingly demanded to support in situ sensing applications such as automotive, deep-well drilling and aerospace. However, few of these applications have requirements above 460 °C, as the surface temperature of Venus, which is a specific target for the seismic sensing application in this thesis. Due to its wide bandgap, Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a promising candidate to implement integrated circuits (ICs) operating in such extreme environments. In this thesis, various analog and mixed-signal ICs in 4H-SiC bipolar technology for high-temperature sensing applications are explored, in which the device performance variation over temperatures are considered. For this purpose, device modeling, circuit design, layout design, and device/circuit characterization are involved. In this thesis, the circuits are fabricated in two batches using similar technologies. In Batch 1, the first SiC sigma-delta modulator is demonstrated to operate up to 500 °C with a 30 dB peak SNDR. Its building blocks including a fully-differential amplifier, an integrator and a comparator are characterized individually to investigate the modulator performance variation over temperatures. In the succeeding Batch 2, a SiC electromechanical sigma-delta modulator is designed with a chosen Si capacitive sensor for seismic sensing on Venus. Its building blocks including a charge amplifier, a multiplier and an oscillator are designed. Compared to Batch 1, a smaller transistor and two metal-interconnects are used to implement higher integration ICs in Batch 2. Moreover, the first VBIC-based compact model featured with continuous-temperature scalability from 27 to 500 °C is developed based on the SiC transistor in Batch 1, in order to optimize the design of circuits in Batch 2. The demonstrated performance of ICs in Batch 1 show the feasibility to further develop the SiC readout ICs for seismic sensor system operating on Venus. / <p>QC 20170911</p>

Silicon carbide (SiC) integrated circuits (ICs) can enable the emergence of robust and reliable systems, including data acquisition and on-site control for extreme environments with high temperature and high radiation such as deep earth drilling, space and aviation, electric and hybrid vehicles, and combustion engines. In particular, SiC ICs provide significant benefit by reducing power dissipation and leakage current at temperatures above 300 °C compared to the Si counterpart. In fact, Si-based ICs have a limited maximum operating temperature which is around 300 °C for silicon on insulator (SOI). Owing to its superior material properties such as wide bandgap, three times larger than Silicon, and low intrinsic carrier concentration, SiC is an excellent candidate for high-temperature applications. In this thesis, analog and mixed-signal circuits have been implemented using SiC bipolar technology, including bandgap references, amplifiers, a master-slave comparator, an 8-bit R-2R ladder-based digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a 4-bit flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and a 10-bit successive-approximation-register (SAR) ADC. Spice models were developed at binned temperature points from room temperature to 500 °C, to simulate and predict the circuits’ behavior with temperature variation. The high-temperature performance of the fabricated chips has been investigated and verified over a wide temperature range from 25 °C to 500 °C. A stable gain of 39 dB was measured in the temperature range from 25 °C up to 500 °C for the inverting operational amplifier with ideal closed-loop gain of 40 dB. Although the circuit design in an immature SiC bipolar technology is challenging due to the low current gain of the transistors and lack of complete AC models, various circuit techniques have been applied to mitigate these problems. This thesis details the challenges faced and methods employed for device modeling, integrated circuit design, layout implementation and finally performance verification using on-wafer characterization of the fabricated SiC ICs over a wide temperature range. / <p>QC 20170905</p>

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materialwhich has several advantages such as higher maximum electric field, lowerON-state resistance, higher switching speeds, and higher maximum allowablejunction operation temperature compared to Silicon (Si). In the 1.2 kV - 1.7kV voltage range, power devices in SiC are foreseen to replace Si Insulatedgatebipolar transistors (IGBTs) for applications targeting high efficiency,high operation temperatures and/or volume reductions. In particular, theSiC Metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) – which isvoltage controlled and normally-OFF – is the device of choice due to the easeof its implementation in designs using Si IGBTs.In this work the reliability of SiC devices, in particular that of the SiCMOSFET, has been investigated. First, the possibility of paralleling two discreteSiC MOSFETs is investigated and validated through static and dynamictests. Parallel-connection was found to be unproblematic. Secondly, drifts ofthe threshold voltage and forward voltage of the body diode of the SiC MOSFETare investigated through long-term tests. Also these reliability aspectswere found to be unproblematic. Thirdly, the impact of the package on thechip reliability is discussed through a modeling of the parasitic inductancesof a standard module and the impact of those inductances on the gate oxide.The model shows imbalances in stray inductances and parasitic elementsthat are problematic for high-speed switching. A long-term test on the impactof humidity on junction terminations of SiC MOSFETs dies and SiCSchottky dies encapsulated in the same standard package reveals early degradationfor some modules situated outdoors. Then, the short-circuit behaviorof three different types (bipolar junction transistor, junction field-effect transistor,and MOSFET) of 1.2 kV SiC switching devices is investigated throughexperiments and simulations. The necessity to turn OFF the device quicklyduring a fault is supported with a detailed electro-thermal analysis for eachdevice. Design guidelines towards a rugged and fast short-circuit protectionare derived. For each device, a short-circuit protection driver was designed,built and validated experimentally. The possibility of designing diode-lessconverters with SiC MOSFETs is investigated with focus on surge currenttests through the body diode. The discovered fault mechanism is the triggeringof the npn parasitic bipolar transistor. Finally, a life-cycle cost analysis(LCCA) has been performed revealing that the introduction of SiC MOSFETsin already existing IGBT designs is economically interesting. In fact,the initial investment is saved later on due to a higher efficiency. Moreover,the reliability is improved, which is beneficial from a risk-management pointof-view. The total investment over 20 years is approximately 30 % lower fora converter with SiC MOSFETs although the initial converter cost is 30 %higher. / Kiselkarbid (SiC) är ett bredbandgapsmaterial (WBG) som har flera fördelar,såsom högre maximal elektrisk fältstyrka, lägre ON-state resitans, högreswitch-hastighet och högre maximalt tillåten arbetstemperatur jämförtmed kisel (Si). I spänningsområdet 1,2-1,7 kV förutses att effekthalvledarkomponenteri SiC kommer att ersätta Si Insulated-gate bipolar transistorer(IGBT:er) i tillämpningar där hög verkningsgrad, hög arbetstemperatur ellervolymreduktioner eftersträvas. Förstahandsvalet är en SiC Metal-oxidesemiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) som är spänningsstyrd ochnormally-OFF, egenskaper som möjliggör enkel implementering i konstruktionersom använder Si IGBTer.I detta arbete undersöks tillförlitligheten av SiC komponenter, specielltSiC MOSFET:en. Först undersöks möjligheten att parallellkoppla tvådiskretaSiC MOSFET:ar genom statiska och dynamiska prov. Parallellkopplingbefanns vara oproblematisk. Sedan undersöks drift av tröskelspänning ochbody-diodens framspänning genom långtidsprov. Ocksådessa tillförlitlighetsaspekterbefanns vara oproblematiska. Därefter undersöks kapslingens inverkanpåchip:et genom modellering av parasitiska induktanser hos en standardmoduloch inverkan av dessa induktanser pågate-oxiden. Modellen påvisaren obalans mellan de parasitiska induktanserna, något som kan varaproblematiskt för snabb switchning. Ett långtidstest av inverkan från fuktpåkant-termineringar för SiC-MOSFET:ar och SiC-Schottky-dioder i sammastandardmodul avslöjar tidiga tecken pådegradering för vissa moduler somvarit utomhus. Därefter undersöks kortslutningsbeteende för tre typer (bipolärtransistor,junction-field-effect transistor och MOSFET) av 1.2 kV effekthalvledarswitchargenom experiment och simuleringar. Behovet att stänga avkomponenten snabbt stöds av detaljerade elektrotermiska simuleringar för allatre komponenter. Konstruktionsriktlinjer för ett robust och snabbt kortslutningsskyddtas fram. För var och en av komponenterna byggs en drivkrets medkortslutningsskydd som valideras experimentellt. Möjligheten att konstrueradiodlösa omvandlare med SiC MOSFET:ar undersöks med fokus påstötströmmargenom body-dioden. Den upptäckta felmekanismen är ett oönskat tillslagav den parasitiska npn-transistorn. Slutligen utförs en livscykelanalys(LCCA) som avslöjar att introduktionen av SiC MOSFET:ar i existerandeIGBT-konstruktioner är ekonomiskt intressant. Den initiala investeringensparas in senare pågrund av en högre verkningsgrad. Dessutom förbättrastillförlitligheten, vilket är fördelaktigt ur ett riskhanteringsperspektiv. Dentotala investeringen över 20 år är ungefär 30 % lägre för en omvandlare medSiC MOSFET:ar även om initialkostnaden är 30 % högre. / <p>QC 20170524</p>