A SiC sidewall enhanced trench JBS diode with improved forward performance

A new high-performance sidewall enhanced trench junction barrier Schottky (SET-JBS) diode is proposed in this article. In the proposed SET-JBS diode, in addition to the Schottky contact on the top anode, the sidewall of the trenches also introduces Schottky contacts, which not only increases the Schottky contact area, but also weakens the junction field-effect transistor effect of the device, resulting in a high forward current density and a low specific on-resistance (R (on,sp)) with a small increase in reverse leakage current (J (L)). Simulation results show that the R (on,sp) of the proposed SET-JBS diode is reduced by 21.6%-46.7% with less than an order of magnitude increase in leakage current compared with that of the conventional trench JBS (T-JBS) diode when the trench distance is from 2.1 mu m to 1.2 mu m at the 2 mu m trench depth. And the SET-JBS diode also performs better than the trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS) diode when comprehensively considered the R (on,sp) and J (L). And the figure of merit and the trade-off relationship between the R (on,sp) and the breakdown voltage of the proposed SET-JBS both are better than those of the conventional T-JBS diode and TMBS diode. The forward I-V analytical model of the SET-JBS is also proposed, which is in good agreement with the simulation results. All the simulation results indicate that the proposed SET-JBS diode has promising potential in power electronics applications.

Automated summary

A new high-performance diode, called sidewall enhanced trench junction barrier Schottky (SET-JBS) diode, is proposed in this article. By introducing Schottky contacts on the sidewall of the trenches, the diode achieves a larger contact area and weakens the junction field-effect transistor effect, resulting in high forward current density and low specific on-resistance. Simulation results show that the proposed SET-JBS diode outperforms the conventional trench JBS (T-JBS) diode and trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS) diode in terms of on-resistance and leakage current. The diode also exhibits better figure of merit and trade-off relationship between on-resistance and breakdown voltage compared to the conventional T-JBS and TMBS diodes. The forward I-V analytical model of the SET-JBS diode is also proposed and validated with simulation results. Promising potential of the proposed SET-JBS diode in power electronics applications is indicated by all the simulation results.