A study of the effect of electron and proton irradiation on 4H-SiC device structures

Abstract

The changes of the current–voltage characteristics and the uncompensated donor-impurity concentration (N_d–N_a) in the base electrode of Schottky diodes and JBS diodes based on 4H-SiC have been studied upon their irradiation with 0.9-MeV electrons and 15-MeV protons. The carrier-removal rate was 0.07–0.15 cm^–1 under electron irradiation and 50–70 cm^–1 under proton irradiation. It was shown that the current–voltage characteristics of the devices under study remain rectifying at electron irradiation doses of up to ~1017 cm^–2. It was demonstrated that the radiation hardness of the SiC-based devices under study substantially exceeds that of silicon p–i–n diodes with similar breakdown voltages.