Infineon Technologies Ag

Fraunhofer-gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v.

Infineon Technology Ag

Peter Nelle

Markus Zundel

Matthias Stecher

Franz Hirler

Uwe Schmalzbauer

Juergen Holzmueller

Wolfgang Werner

Joachim Weyers

Norbert Krischke

Guenther Schindler

Markus Winkler

Ludger Borucki

Ludwig Rossmeier

Gabriela Brase

Erwin Vogl

Andreas Kluge

A method for processing a semiconductor device in accordance with various embodiments may include: providing a semiconductor device having a first pad and a second pad electrically disconnected from the first pad; applying at least one electrical test potential to at least one of the first pad and the second pad; and electrically connecting the first pad and the second pad to one another after applying the at least one electrical test potential.

Semiconductor devices and processing methods

A test method in accordance with one or more embodiments may include: providing a semiconductor device to be tested, the semiconductor device including at least one device cell, the at least one device cell having at least one trench, at least one first terminal electrode region and at least one second terminal electrode region, at least one gate electrode, and at least one additional electrode disposed at least partially in the at least one trench, wherein an electrical potential of the at least one additional electrode may be controlled separately from electrical potentials of the at least one first terminal electrode region, the at least one second terminal electrode region and the at least one gate electrode; and applying at least one electrical test potential to at least the at least one additional electrode to detect defects in the at least one device cell.

Test method and test arrangement

One embodiment of a semiconductor device includes a dense trench transistor cell array. The dense trench transistor cell array includes a plurality of transistor cells in a semiconductor body. A width wof a transistor mesa region of each of the plurality of transistor cells and a width wof a first trench of each of the plurality of transistor cells satisfy the following relationship: w&#x3c;1.5&#xd7;w. The semiconductor device further includes semiconductor diodes. At least one of the semiconductor diodes is arranged between first and second parts of the plurality of transistor cells and includes a diode mesa region adjoining opposing walls of second trenches. A depth dof the first trench and a depth dof the second trenches differ by at least 20%.

Semiconductor device having a dense trench transistor cell array

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes providing a layered structure having a hard dielectric layer containing a first dielectric material having a Young's modulus greater than 10 GPa in a central portion of a main surface of a main body comprising a single crystalline semiconductor body, and providing a dielectric stress relief layer containing a second dielectric material having a lower Young's modulus than the first dielectric material, the stress relief layer covering the layered structure and extending beyond an outer edge of the layered structure.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including a stress relief layer

A method for operating a field-effect transistor having a source terminal, a drain terminal, a gate terminal, a drift region and a dielectric region adjoining the drift region, is provided. The method includes: connecting at least one of the drain terminal and the source terminal to a load; applying a sequence of voltage pulses between the gate terminal and the source terminal to repetitively switch the field-effect transistor such that the field-effect transistor is driven in an avalanche mode between the voltage pulses, during the avalanche mode avalanche multiplication occurring in the drift region close to the dielectric region; and applying at least one relaxation pulse to the field-effect transistor to reduce an accumulation of charges in the dielectric region due to hot charge carriers generated in the avalanche mode. Further, a field-effect transistor and a circuit configuration including the field-effect transistor are provided.

Method for operating field-effect transistor, field-effect transistor and circuit configuration

Transistor cell array including semiconductor diode

The invention relates to a semiconductor component comprising a semiconductor body, an insulation on the semiconductor body and a cell array arranged at least partly within the semiconductor body. The cell array has at least one p-n junction and at least one contact connection. The insulation is bounded in lateral direction of the semiconductor body by a circumferential diffusion barrier.

Chip edge sealing

A semiconductor device includes a main body having a single crystalline semiconductor body. A layered structure directly adjoins a central portion of a main surface of the main body and includes a hard dielectric layer provided from a first dielectric material with Young's modulus greater than 10 GPa. A stress relief layer directly adjoins the layered structure opposite to the main body and extends beyond an outer edge of the layered structure. Providing the layered structure at a distance to the edge of the main body and covering the outer surface of the layered structures with the stress relief layer enhances device reliability.

Semiconductor device including a stress relief layer and method of manufacturing

An apparatus and a method configured to lower thermal stress is disclosed. One embodiment provides a semiconductor chip, a heat sink plate and a layer structure. The layer structure includes at least a diffusion solder layer and a buffer layer. The layer structure is arranged between the semiconductor chip and the heat sink plate. The buffer layer includes a material, which is soft in comparison to a material of the diffusion solder layer, and includes a layer thickness such that thermal stresses in the semiconductor chip remain below a predetermined value during temperature fluctuations within a temperature range.

Apparatus and method configured to lower thermal stresses

An apparatus and a method configured to lower thermal stress is disclosed. One embodiment provides a semiconductor chip, a lead frame and a layer structure. The layer structure includes at least a diffusion solder layer and a buffer layer. The layer structure is arranged between the semiconductor chip and the lead frame. The buffer layer includes a material, which is soft in comparison to a material of the diffusion solder layer, and includes a layer thickness such that thermal stresses in the semiconductor chip remain below a predetermined value during temperature fluctuations within a temperature range.

An integrated circuit arrangement. In one embodiment, the arrangement includes at least one first semiconductor zone of a first conduction type which is doped more highly than the basic doping of a first semiconductor layer and which is arranged at a distance from a first component zone adjoining the first semiconductor layer. At least one connecting zone extends as far as the at least one first semiconductor zone proceeding from the first side. A second semiconductor zone of the second conduction type, is arranged in the first semiconductor layer and is electrically conductively connected to the at least one connecting zone.

Integrated circuit arrangement including a protective structure

A vertical bipolar transistor has a J-FET incorporated in an epitaxial layer. The pinch-off voltage of the J-FET is less than the collector-emitter breakdown voltage of a bipolar transistor without the J-FET. This results in a considerable increase in the collector-emitter breakdown voltage up to 30 V or more being possible without having to except limitations with regard to dielectric strength and on resistivity

Vertical bipolar transistor

An integrated circuit configuration includes a semiconductor body having a first semiconductor zone of a first conductivity type in a region near a rear side and a second semiconductor zone of the first conductivity type adjoining the first semiconductor zone and doped more weakly than the first semiconductor zone in a region near a front side, a first component region in the body having at least one semiconductor zone of a second conductivity type, a second component region in the body having at least one semiconductor zone of the second conductivity type, and a conversion structure having a semiconductor zone of the second conductivity type and a semiconductor zone of the first conductivity type that are short-circuited and disposed at a distance from the first semiconductor zone between the first and second component regions in the second semiconductor zone.

Growing community of inventors

Munich, Germany

Peter Nelle