Bias-temperature instabilities in 4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors

Abstract

Bias-temperature instabilities (BTIs) are investigated for n- and p-substrate 4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. The midgap voltage (V mg) shifts positively under positive bias stress at high temperatures for n-substrate capacitors with 67.5-nm nitrided oxides and shifts negatively under negative bias for p-substrate capacitors with 55-nm nitrided oxides. The magnitudes of the V mg shifts are less than 0.5 V for electric fields of magnitudes of approximately 3.1 MV/cm for up to one day of stress at 150 °C or 20 min of stress at 300 °C. Switched-bias stressing at 150 °C causes partially reversible shifts for the n-substrate capacitors, while the p-substrate capacitors show monotonically increasing negative shifts. Based on the measured temperature dependence of the V mg shifts, the effective activation energy for BTI that is measured between room temperature and 250 °C is 0.12 ± 0.02 eV for the n-substrate capacitors (positive shifts) and 0.23 ± 0.02 eV for the p-substrate capacitors (negative shifts). The midgap voltage shifts in these wide-bandgap devices are caused by charge capture at deep interface traps and N-related defects at or near the SiC-SiO 2 interface, which can be enhanced at elevated temperatures by the generation of additional carriers due to the ionization of deep dopants in the SiC during bias-temperature stress. © 2012 IEEE.

Publication Title

IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability

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