1000-V, 30-A 4H-SiC BJTs with high current gain

Sumi Krishnaswami, Anant Agarwal, Sei Hyung Ryu, Craig Capell, James Richmond, John Palmour, Santosh Balachandran, T. Paul Chow, Stephen Bayne, Bruce Geil, Kenneth Jones, Charles Scozzie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

84 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents the development of 1000 V, 30 A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) with high dc current gain in 4H-SiC. BJT devices with an active area of 3 × 3 mm2 showed a forward on-current of 30 A, which corresponds to a current density of 333 A/cm2, at a forward voltage drop of 2 V. A common-emitter current gain of 40, along with a low specific on-resistance of 6.0 mΩ·cm2 was observed at room temperature. These results show significant improvement over state-of-the-art. High temperature current-voltage characteristics were also performed on the large-area bipolar junction transistor device. A collector current of 10 A is observed at VCE = 2 V and IB = 600 mA at 225 °C. The on-resistance increases to 22.5 mΩ·cm2 at higher temperatures, while the dc current gain decreases to 30 at 275 °C. A sharp avalanche behavior was observed at a collector voltage of 1000 V. Inductive switching measurements at room temperature with a power supply voltage of 500 V show fast switching with a turn-off time of about 60 ns and a turn-on time of 32 ns, which is a result of the low resistance in the base.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)175-177
Number of pages3
JournalIEEE Electron Device Letters
Volume26
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2005

Keywords

  • 4H-SiC
  • Current gain
  • High-speed switching
  • Power BJT

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