Vital issues for SiC power devices

This paper provides an overview of SiC technology and identifies the vital issues for MOS based SiC power devices, specially for power MOSFETs. The major problems arise from the immaturity of device fabrication processes and crystal growth technology. To address technical difficulties, a new transistor named the epi-channel (EC)-FET was developed for power switching applications. Anisotropy in thermal oxidation and epitaxial growth of SiC was utilized to develop the EC-FET. 4H-SiC power EC-FETs have been demonstrated to have a specific on-resistance as low as 10.9m Omega.cm(2) at room temperature with blocking voltage of mole than 450V, surpassing the limits of Si power devices. However, the fabricated large area power devices show large leakage currents and low blocking voltage at the crystal defects. The wafer size and defect density together with epi-layer quality are the key factors for the commercial success of the SiC technology.