Muhammad Khalid

Surface Passivation of Ti/4H-SiC Schottky Barrier Diode

Surface properties of SiC power devices mostly depend on the passivation layer (PL). This layer has direct influence on electrical characteristics of devices. 2D numerical simulation of forward and reverse characteristics with and without different (PLs) (SiO2, HfO2 and Si3N4) has been performed. Simulation results show that the breakdown voltage increases with increasing PL thickness, and there is a lesser significant effect on forward characteristics. The maximum breakdown voltage with and without SiO2 PL is 1240 V and 276 V, respectively. SiO2 PL has compatibility with SiC surface providing high breakdown voltage, 6 and 8% higher than that of HfO2 and Si3N4 respectively. Low leakage current is observed which then further decreases on reducing the thickness of PL. Furthermore, variation of forward current with dielectric constant and thickness of PLs was observed. Finally, it is suggested that matches of our results with published experimental results indicate that the Sentaurus TCAD simulator is a predictive tool for the SiC Schottky barrier diode simulation.