US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

United Silicon Carbide, Inc.

Jian H Zhao

Thomas E Koscica

Maurice Weiner

Terence Burke

A semiconductor vertical junction field effect power transistor formed by a semiconductor structure having top and bottom surfaces and including a plurality of semiconductor layers with predetermined doping concentrations and thicknesses and comprising at least a bottom layer as drain layer, a middle layer as blocking and channel layer, a top layer as source layer. A plurality of laterally spaced U-shaped trenches with highly vertical side walls defines a plurality of laterally spaced mesas. The mesas are surrounded on the four sides by U-shaped semiconductor regions having conductivity type opposite to that of the mesas forming U-shaped pn junctions and defining a plurality of laterally spaced long and vertical channels with a highly uniform channel opening dimension. A source contact is formed on the top source layer and a drain contact is formed on the bottom drain layer. A gate contact is formed on the bottom of the U-shaped trenches for the purpose of creating and interrupting the vertical channels so as to turn on and turn off the transistor.

Power junction field effect power transistor with highly vertical channel and uniform channel opening

The present invention is a power semiconductor switch having a monolithically integrated low-voltage lateral junction field effect transistor (LJFET) controlling a high-voltage vertical junction field effect transistor (VJFET). The low-voltage LJFET conducting channel is double-gated by p+n junctions at opposite sides of the lateral channel. A buried p-type epitaxial layer forms one of the two p+n junction gates. A p+ region created by ion implantation serves as the p+ region for the second p+n junction gate. Both gates are electrically connected by a p+ tub implantation. The vertical channel of the vertical JFET is formed by converting part of the buried p-type epitaxial layer into n+ channel via n-type ion implantation.

Double-gated vertical junction field effect power transistor

Power semiconductor devices have a plurality of semiconductor layers of alternating p-type and n-type conductivity and top and bottom device surfaces. A layer of the top surface forms a control layer. A semiconductor layer junction, remote from top and bottom device surfaces, forms a blocking p-n junction capable of sustaining the applied device voltage. A top ohmic contact overlays a top conductive region extending from the top surface into the control layer. A conductive tub region, spaced apart from the top conductive region, extends from the top surface at least through the control layer. A field effect region is disposed in the control layer between the top conductive region and tub region. A gate contact is formed over the field effect region causing the creation and interruption of a conductive channel between the top conductive region and the conductive tub region so as to turn the device on and off. In one device embodiment, a separate latch-on gate overlying the conductive tub is provided for device turn-on.

Field-controlled high-power semiconductor devices

A heterostructure semiconductor device having source and drain electrodes sistively coupled to opposite ends of a channel, a barrier layer on one side of the channel, a delta doped layer in the channel or within a given distance of it, a gate electrode on the barrier so as to form a Schottky diode and at least one collector electrode mounted on said barrier layer. The collector electrode or electrodes can be resistively coupled to the barrier layer, but preferably the coupling is such as to form a Schottky diode. Changes to the gate bias affect the source current through the field effect mechanism. The collector current depends on the transfer of heated, energized carriers out of the channel over the front heterobarrier. At low gate bias, electrons entering the source travel to the drain while none travel to the collector. Energized carriers are localized to the depletion region due its high electric field drop. At an intermediate gate bias, source current is increased and the voltage drop along the channel shifts more toward the region below the collector. Some heated carriers are then present at the collector's barrier and transfer out of the channel to the collector. At high bias, carrier heating in the channel causes a large fraction of electrons from the source to transfer to the collector. With a rising gate voltage the drain current goes through a smooth peaking and reduction while the collector current rises monotonically.

Field effect real space transistor

The present Field Effect Real Space Transistor, or FERST, is a four terminal device with S, G, C, and D representing the source, gate, collector, and drain, respectively. The S, G, and D terminals can be likened to those of the MODFET. The collector name is borrowed from other real space transfer devices. Surrounding the entire device is an oxygen implant isolation. The source and drain ohmic contacts penetrate to the 150 .ANG. GaAs channel while the collector ohmic contact does not penetrate due to its position upon an elevated submesa. AlGaAs layers are used as etch stops during processing of the device and a Schottky barrier gate is placed on an undoped layer. Channel carriers are provided by modulation doping the lower barrier of the channel. An Al.sub.0.35 Ga.sub.0.65 As layer on the upper channel side is used as a real space transfer barrier. In operation and under appropriate bias conditions, real space transfer occurs across this upper barrier and into the collector. Voltage is applied to the device between the drain and source which heats up electrons in the channel to an energized state. Field effect control by the gate then adjusts the voltage distribution throughout the device due to both ohmic voltage drops and the variation in channel conductance under the gate.

The present invention comprises a semi-insulating layer of GaAs with p+ and layers of aluminum gallium arsenide AlGaAs grown on one side of the semi-insulating GaAs and with p and n+ layers of AlGaAs grown on the other side of the semi-insulating GaAs. Ohmic contacts are grown on both sides of the thyristor as well as low temperature GaAs to provide for surface passivity.

Growing community of inventors

North Brunswick, NJ, United States of America

Jian H Zhao