Silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor

• US 5,831,288 A
• Filed: 09/29/1997
• Issued: 11/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Wolfspeed, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cree Research, Inc.
• Inventors: Singh, Ranbir, Palmour, John W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hardy, David B.
• Application Number:
  US08/939,710
• Time in Patent Office: 400 Days
• Field of Search: 257/76, 257/77, 257/327-334
• US Class Current: 257/77
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/1095 Body region, i.e. base region, of DMOS transistors or IGBTs cell layout H01L29/0696
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/1608 Silicon carbide
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/41741 for vertical or pseudo-vertical devices
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/41766 with at least part of the source or drain electrode having contact below the semiconductor surface, e.g. the source or drain electrode formed at least partially in a groove or with inclusions of conductor inside the semiconductor H01L29/41733 - H01L29/41758 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/66068 the devices being controllable only by the electric current supplied or the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched, e.g. three-terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7802 Vertical DMOS transistors, i.e. VDMOS transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7813 with trench gate electrode, e.g. UMOS transistors trench gate electrodes per se H01L29/4236

Abstract

A silicon carbide (SiC) metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor having a u-shaped gate trench and an n-type SiC drift layer is provided. A p-type region is formed in the SiC drift layer and extends below the bottom of the u-shaped gate trench to prevent field crowding at the corner of the gate trench. A unit cell of a metal-insulator semiconductor transistor is provided having a bulk single crystal SiC substrate of n-type conductivity SiC, a first epitaxial layer of n-type SiC and a second epitaxial layer of p-type SiC. First and second trenches extend downward through the second epitaxial layer and into the first epitaxial layer with a region of n-type SiC between the trenches. An insulator layer is formed in the first trench with the upper surface of the insulator on the bottom of the trench below the second epitaxial layer. A region of p-type SiC is formed in the first epitaxial layer below the second trench. Gate and source contacts are formed in the first and second trenches respectively and a drain contact is formed on the substrate.

Claims

1. A silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor comprising:

a u-shaped gate trench;

an n-type silicon carbide drift layer;

a p-type silicon carbide base layer formed by epitaxial growth on said n-type silicon carbide drift layer and having a higher carrier concentration than said silicon carbide drift layer; and

a p-type region formed by ion implantation in said silicon carbide drift layer adjacent to and discontiguous with said u-shaped gate trench and extending to a depth below the bottom of said u-shaped gate trench so as to prevent field crowding at the corner of said gate trench.

2. A silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 1, wherein said p-type silicon carbide base layer has at least one of the carrier concentration of said silicon carbide base layer and the thickness of said silicon carbide base layer selected to reduce the on-state resistance of said transistor while preventing back depletion of said base layer.

3. A silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 2 wherein said p-type silicon carbide base layer has a thickness which is less than the thickness required to prevent back depletion in a corresponding silicon carbide field effect transistor which does not have said p-type silicon carbide regions formed in said silicon carbide drift layer.

4. A silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 1 wherein said p-type silicon carbide base layer has a thickness of less than about 5 μ

m.

5. A silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 1 wherein said p-type silicon carbide base layer has a carrier concentration of less than about 2×

10¹⁸ cm^-3.

6. A unit cell of a metal-insulator semiconductor transistor, said unit cell comprising:

a bulk single crystal silicon carbide substrate of n-type conductivity silicon carbide, said substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface opposite said upper surface;

a first epitaxial layer of n-type conductivity silicon carbide formed on said upper surface of said substrate, wherein the carrier concentration of said substrate is higher than the carrier concentration of said first and said second epitaxial layers;

a second epitaxial layer of p-type conductivity silicon carbide formed on said first epitaxial layer;

a first trench extending downward through said second epitaxial layer and into said first epitaxial layer, said trench having sidewalls and a bottom;

a region of n-type conductivity silicon carbide formed in said second epitaxial layer adjacent said first trench and extending to the upper surface of said second epitaxial layer to create a region in said second epitaxial layer having an upper surface of n-type conductivity silicon carbide and wherein said region of n-type conductivity silicon carbide has a higher carrier concentration than said first and said second epitaxial layers;

an insulator layer formed on said sidewalls and said bottom of said first trench and extending onto said upper surface of said n-type conductivity silicon carbide formed in said second epitaxial layer to create a gate oxide layer, wherein the upper surface of said gate insulator layer formed on the bottom of said first trench is below said second epitaxial layer;

an ohmic contact formed on said lower surface of said substrate to form a drain contact;

an ohmic contact formed on said upper surface of said second epitaxial layer and contacting said upper surface of said n-type conductivity region of said second epitaxial layer to form a source contact so as to electrically connect said region of n-type conductivity silicon carbide to said p-type conductivity second epitaxial layer; and

a region of p-type conductivity silicon carbide formed by ion implantation in said first epitaxial layer below said source contact adjacent to and discontiguous with said first trench, wherein said region of p-type conductivity silicon carbide has a higher carrier concentration than said second epitaxial layer;

a conductive layer formed in said first trench to form a gate contact.

7. A unit cell of a silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 6 wherein said second epitaxial layer has a thickness of less than about 5 μ

m.

8. A unit cell of a silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 6 wherein said second epitaxial layer has a carrier concentration of less than about 2×

10¹⁸ cm^-3.

9. A silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor transistor comprising a plurality of the unit cells of claim 6.

10. A unit cell of a silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 6 wherein said insulating layer comprises an oxide layer.

11. A unit cell of a silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 6 further comprising a second region of p-type conductivity silicon carbide formed in said second epitaxial layer beneath said source contact, said second region of p-type conductivity silicon carbide having a higher carrier concentration than said second epitaxial layer.

12. A unit cell of a silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 6 wherein said silicon carbide comprises 4H silicon carbide.

13. A unit cell of a silicon carbide metal-insulator semiconductor field effect transistor according to claim 6 further comprising a buffer layer of n-type conductivity silicon carbide formed between said first epitaxial layer and said substrate.