ISPSD 2008 Short Course Short Course Chair: Prof. Alex Huang, Sunday, May 18, 2008
Superjunction Devices Superjunction has arguably been the most creative and important concept in the power device field since the introduction of the IGBT in 1980s. It is the only concept known today that has challenged and ultimately proved wrong the well-known theoretical study on the limit of silicon in high voltage devices. The tutorial will offer a detailed view on various aspects of superjunction devices and technologies. We will walk you through fundamental physics to technological challenges and through SJ unique static and dynamic characteristics to sophisticated application guide lines. The device concept will be compared to other methods of enhancing the conductivity of power devices to derive the characteristic set of benefits and limits of superjunction devices. Instructors: Dr. Gerald Deboy, Infineon Dr. Gerald Deboy is heading the Technical Marketing Department for power devices within the Automotive and Industrial Division of Infineon Technologies AG. He has a background of more than 15 years in research and application of power devices. Dr. Deboy has published more than 60 papers in journals and international conferences including three book contributions and holds 28 patents in power semiconductor devices. He pioneered research work on superjunction devices and brought the concept to commercial market introduction. His current work and research interest is focused on the application of power devices. Dr. Deboy is a Sr member of the IEEE. Dr. Florin Udrea is a reader in Engineering Department at Cambridge University working in the field of power electronics. Dr. Udrea has published over 240 papers in journals and international conferences and holds over 30 patents in power semiconductor devices and sensors. Currently Dr. Udrea is leading a research group in power semiconductor devices and solid-state sensors, which has won during the last 10 years an international reputation. He pioneered work on lateral superjunction for power ICs. In August 2000 Dr Udrea co-founded with Prof. Gehan Amaratunga, Cambridge Semiconductor (Camsemi), a start-up company in the field of power integrated circuits. IGBT Devices The course will start with a short review of the historical development that led to the invention of the IGBT. Next, there will be an introduction of the IGBT structure, its operating principle, and its main characteristics. The device will be briefly compared with its peers, the IGCT and the MOSFET. The bulk of the short course will then be used to elaborate on today’s status of the IGBT, its potentials and limitations. The main development trends, i.e., higher maximum junction temperature, lower losses, and higher safe operating area will be discussed in some detail. Some ideas regarding new concepts, such as the reverse-conducting IGBT and the controlled punch-through IGBT, will also be introduced. Instructor: Dr. Stefan Linder, ABB Stefan Linder, born in 1965 in Geneva, Switzerland, completed his undergraduate studies in electrical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1990. After obtaining his PhD in 1996, he joined ABB as an R&D engineer in the Power Semiconductors business unit. His responsibilities were the development of Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristors (IGCT) and Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT). In January 2000, Dr. Linder became Vice President of ABB’s Power Semiconductors R&D. For several years, Dr. Linder held lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, both in Zurich and Lausanne. In May 2006, he released his book entitled “Power Semiconductors”, whose target audience ranges from novices to intermediates. The book’s goal is to form a solid device knowledge foundation for application engineers and future device specialists. SiC Power Devices Silicon carbide has become a rapidly maturing material platform enabling the commercialization of revolutionary power device technology well suited to supplant conventional silicon power devices in high voltage, high frequency, and high temperature applications. This short course will provide a detailed discussion of existing commercial devices (600 V – 1200 V JBS diodes), soon-to-be-released devices (1200 V MOSFET), and future devices (10 kV MOSFETs and IGBTs). Furthermore, the benefits of inserting the SiC devices in typical circuit applications like inverters and converters will also be presented. The short course will conclude with a general roadmap and future prospects for silicon carbide power electronics. Instructor: Dr. Mrinal Das, Cree Inc. Mrinal K. Das received the BSEE and BA degrees from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993, and the MSEE and PhD Degrees from Purdue University in 1996 and 1999, respectively. His graduate research centered on the electrical characterization and process optimization of the SiC MOS structure. His work was one of the first to correlate the poor performance of SiC MOSFETs with the anomalously high density of interface traps near the conduction band as well as the sensitivity of the SiC MOS to high temperature processing. Following graduation from Purdue, Dr. Das joined the Advanced Devices R&D Technical Staff at Cree, Inc., as a process scientist. In his nine years at Cree, Dr. Das has been involved in a variety of SiC device projects including Power MOSFETs, PiN Diodes, Schottky Diodes, and IGBTs. The nature of his work has spanned the technical spectrum from pure research to product development to high volume production. Dr. Das has authored or co-authored over 60 technical papers and presentations, delivered 12 invited presentations, received six issued patents, and recently been elevated to IEEE Senior Member status. The primary focus of his work today continues to be the improvement of SiC power device technology in terms of commercial viability. GaN Power Devices Like SiC, GaN has many attractive material properties, such as high breakdown field, which make it suitable for power electronic applications. However, most of the GaN device development to date has been focused on high frequency amplifying and photonic applications. In this tutorial, we present the recent progress in the development of high-voltage power switching GaN devices. We will review both lateral and vertical GaN power rectifiers and transistors that have been demonstrated. Due to the lack of native substrates in its early development, many of the high-voltage GaN power devices explored are lateral or quasi-vertical in structure. In addition, the availability of the AlGaN/GaN heterojunction interface makes a two-dimensional electron gas with high mobility possible, offering a Schottky gate-controlled, low resistance channel for field-effect transistors. On the other hand, the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs are usually normally on and the Schottky gate has excessive leakage current. Recent experimental demonstrations of normally off, inversion mode GaN MOSFETs offer an alternative device technology, which more closely resembles that employed in silicon power devices. Finally, we will review the GaN power device development trend and project the voltage and power ranges within which GaN is competitive or superior over SiC power devices. Instructor: Prof. T. Paul Chow, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute T. Paul Chow received his B.A. in Mathematics and Physics from Augustana College (S. Dak.) in 1971, M.S. in Materials Science from Columbia University in 1977 and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1982. Dr. Chow was a member of the technical staff at GE Corporate Research and Development from 1977 to 1989. Since 1989, he has been with RPI, where he is now professor of the Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering Department. He has been working in the power semiconductor device area since 1982. His present research activities include novel device concepts, processing and circuit models for high-voltage silicon and wide bandgap (particularly SiC and GaN) semiconductor power devices. He has published over 100 papers in scientific journals, has contributed seven chapters in technical textbooks, and has fifteen patents. He is a Fellow of the IEEE. High Voltage Power IC This short course will provide an introduction to the field of high-voltage power integrated circuits, defined herein as ICs with one or more power devices with operating voltages above 200V. Topics will include process technologies, devices, applications, and reliability considerations. Instructor: Dr. Don Disney, Advanced Analogic Technologies Don Disney received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1993. In his graduate research, he was one of the first to explore the physics and technology of high-voltage lateral power devices fabricated in silicon-on-insulator substrates. After graduation, Dr. Disney worked for Delco Electronics, developing vertical DMOS and IGBT devices for automotive ignition systems and electric vehicle powertrain systems. He then served for nine years as principal engineer at Power Integrations, where he developed novel high-voltage IC technologies and products. He is presently Director of Technology at Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc., where his focus is on low-voltage power management ICs and trench MOSFETs. Don is a senior member of the IEEE and author of nine conference papers and over 50 U.S. patents. |
