Total ionizing dose effects of 60 Co-γ ray radiation on SiC MOSFETs with different gate oxide thickness

AbstractThe application of SiC power devices in the space radiation environment not only requires good resistance to Single Event Effect (SEE) but also requires certain resistance to Total Ionizing Dose (TID) and long-term reliability. Increasing the thickness of the gate oxide layer (tox) can effectively improve the ability of SiC VDMOS to resist SEE. However, it will mainly impact its resistance to TID and Gate Oxide Integrity (GOI). Therefore, this paper compares the influence of tox on the radiation resistance and long-term reliability of SiC VDMOS under the same process and irradiation conditions. The experimental results show that after being irradiated by Cobalt-60 γ-rays, the static parameters of SiC VDMOS devices degrade severely with the increase of the tox; at the same time, the thick gate oxide process will also cause more defects in the gate oxide, leading to the decrease of the gate oxide long-term reliability, but it can be significantly improved after high temperature (HT) accelerated annealing. The research results suggest that the method of increasing tox should take into account the requirements of TID resistance and long-term reliability when improving the SEE radiation resistance of SiC VDMOS. This study is based on the improvement of electrical parameters and the analysis of reliability degradation of SiC VDMOS, providing experimental data support for determining the balance point of tox.KEYWORDS: SiC MOSFETstotal ionizing doselong-term reliabilitythe thickness of the gate oxide layer (tox) Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis study was jointly supported by the Youth Science and Technology Talents Project of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (No. 2022TSYCCX0094), the Fund of Robot Technology Used for Special Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province (Project No. 21kftk03), and the “Western Young Scholars” project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2021-XBQNXZ-021).Notes on contributorsHaonan FengHaonan Feng is currently pursuing Ph.D. degree in the Laboratory of Solid State Radiation Physics, XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Xiaowen LiangXiaowen Liang received B.S. degree from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China, and M.S. degree in Microelectronics and solid-state electronics from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. She is currently working toward Ph.D. degree in the Laboratory of Solid State Radiation Physics, XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Jing SunJing Sun received Ph.D. from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. She is currently a Professor at XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Jie FengJie Feng received the Ph.D. from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. She is currently an Associate Professor at XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Ying WeiYing Wei received the Ph.D. from Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China. She is currently an Associate Professor at XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Teng ZhangTeng Zhang is currently employed as an engineer at the 55th Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.Xiaojuan PuXiaojuan Pu received B.S. degree from Xidian University, Xian, China. She is currently working toward Master degree in the Laboratory of Solid State Radiation Physics, XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Dan ZhangDan Zhang is currently pursuing Ph.D. degree in the Laboratory of Solid State Radiation Physics, XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Yutang XiangYutang Xiang received the B.S. degree from the Xidian University, Xian, China. She is currently working toward the Master degree in the Laboratory of Solid State Radiation Physics, XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Yudong LiYudong Li received the Ph.D. from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. He is currently a Professor at XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Xuefeng YuXuefeng Yu received B.S. degree from Lanzhou University. He is currently a Professor at XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.Qi GuoQi Guo received B.S. degree from Beijing Institute of Technology. He is currently a Professor at XinJiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.