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We present the influence of phosphorous auto-doping on the characteristics of the oxide interface in 4H-SiC following high temperature gate oxide annealing. IV characteristics show no evidence of direct tunnelling breakdown; however Fowler Nordheim (F-N) conduction is observed in high electric field with the oxides able to sustain >10MV/cm. Capacitance Voltage data show DIT 12 eV-1cm-2 close to the conduction band edge after POA, with undoped samples demonstrating DIT below 5x1011 eV-1cm-2. Photo CV data indicates smaller flat band voltage shifts of 0.6V at midpoint for the undoped samples, in comparison to 0.9V for the phosphorous doped devices. Temperature and bias stress tests at 200°C showed marginal hysteresis (0.3V) in both wafers. Reliability of time-dependent constant current and constant voltage characteristics revealed higher TDDB lifetimes in the undoped wafer. We conclude that the unintentional incorporation of phosphorous into the gate stack as a result of high temperature POA of the doped field oxide leads to a variation in flat band shift, higher DIT, and lower dielectric reliability.

The potential to thermally grow SiO2 on silicon carbide has resulted in it becoming the technology of choice to realise high temperature CMOS circuits. The challenge to achieve a high quality gate stack relies on engineering the metal-insulator-semiconductor interfaces to enable reliable high temperature functionality. Here we describe the effect of different process conditions for the formation of the dielectric layer on the characteristics of the resulting devices. The operating characteristics at elevated temperatures depend critically on the quality of the gate stack. Therefore a systematic evaluation of the intrinsic properties of the gate stack and data from reliability tests are needed.

Low frequency noise in 4H-SiC lateral p-channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (PMOSFETs) in the frequency range from 1 Hz to 100 kHz has been used to investigate the relationship between gate dielectric fabrication techniques and the resulting density of interface traps at the semiconductor-dielectric interface in order to examine the impact on device performance. The results show that the low frequency noise characteristics in p-channel 4H-SiC MOSFETs in weak inversion are in agreement with the McWhorter model and are dominated by the interaction of channel carriers with interface traps at the gate dielectric/semiconductor interface.

Silicon Carbide devices are capable of operating as a semiconductor at high temperatures and this capability is being exploited today in discrete power components, bringing system advantages such as reduced cooling requirements [1]. Therefore there is an emerging need for control ICs mounted on the same modules and being capable of operating at the same temperatures. In addition, several application areas are pushing electronics to higher temperatures, particularly sensors and interface devices required for aero engines and in deep hydrocarbon and geothermal drilling. This paper discusses a developing CMOS manufacturing process using a 4H SiC substrate, which has been used to fabricate a range of simple logic and analogue circuits and is intended for power control and mixed signal sensor interface applications [2]. Test circuits have been found to operate at up to 400°C. The introduction of a floating capacitor structure to the process allows the use of switched capacitor techniques in mixed signal circuits operating over an extended temperature range.

The development of silicon carbide complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) is a key-enabling step in the realisation of low power circuitry for high-temperature applications. This paper describes investigations using the charge pumping technique into the properties of the gate dielectric interface as part of the development of the technology to realise monolithic fabrication of both n and p channel devices. A comparison of the charge pumping technique and the Hill-Coleman and Terman methods is also carried out to explore the feasibility of the technique.

The recent development of silicon carbide complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) is a key enabling step in the realisation of low power circuitry for high temperature applications, such as aerospace and well logging. This paper describes investigations into the properties of the gate dielectric as part of the development of the technology to realize monolithic fabrication of both n and p channel devices. A comparison of the oxide quality of the silicon carbide CMOS transistors is performed to examine the feasibility of this technology for high temperature circuitry.

A need for high temperature integrated circuits is emerging in a number of application areas. As Silicon Carbide power discrete devices become more widely available, there is a growing need for control ICs capable of operating at the same temperatures and mounted on the same modules. Also, the use of high temperature sensors, in, for example, aero engines and in deep hydrocarbon and geothermal drilling applications results in a demand for high temperature sensor interface ICs. This paper presents new results on a range of simple logic and analogue circuits fabricated on a developing Silicon Carbide CMOS process which is intended for mixed signal integrated circuit applications such as those above. A small family of logic circuits, pin compatible with the 74xx series TTL logic parts, has been designed, fabricated and tested and includes, for example, a Quad Nand gate and a Dual D-type flip-flop. These have been found to be functional from room temperature up to 400°C. Analogue blocks have been investigated with a view to using switched capacitor or autozero techniques to compensate for temperature and time induced drifts, allowing very high temperature operation.

The wide band-gap of Silicon Carbide (SiC) makes it a material suitable for high temperature integrated circuits [1], potentially operating up to and beyond 450°C. This paper describes the development of a 15V SiC CMOS technology developed to operate at high temperatures, n and p-channel transistor and preliminary circuit performance over temperature achieved in this technology.

The wide band-gap of Silicon Carbide makes it a material suitable for IC's [1] operating up to 450°C. The maximum operating temperature achieved will depend on the transistor technology selected, interconnect metallisation and device packaging. This paper describes transistor and circuit results achieved in SiC CMOS technology, where the major issue addressed is the gate dielectric performance. N and p-channel MOSFET structures have been demonstrated operating at temperatures up to 400°C Test circuits including simple logic cells, ring oscillators, operational amplifiers and gate drive circuits have been fabricated and the characteristics of ring oscillators are presented here. Floating capacitor structures have also been fabricated for use in future analogue and mixed signal circuits. This technology will be initially applied in applications including signal conditioning for sensors and control of SiC based power switching devices, where the high temperature capability will match that of the SiC power devices which are now becoming commercially available.

We report on a direct epitaxial growth approach for the heterogeneous integration of high-speed III–V devices with Si CMOS logic on a common Si substrate. InP-based heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) structures were successfully grown on Si-on-lattice-engineered- substrate (SOLES) and Ge-on-insulator-on-Si (GeOI/Si) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Structurally, the epiwafers exhibit sharp interfaces and a threading dislocation density of 3.5×10 7 cm −2 as measured by plan-view transmission electron microscopy. HBT devices fabricated on GeOI/Si substrates have current gain of 55–60 at a base sheet resistance of 650–700 Ω/sq, and f t and f max of around 220 GHz. HBT structures with DC and RF performance similar to those grown on lattice-matched InP were also achieved on patterned SOLES substrates with growth windows as small as 15×15 μm 2 . These results demonstrate a promising path of heterogeneous integration and selective placement of III–V devices at arbitrary locations on Si CMOS wafers.

We present the characteristics of a high temperature CMOS integrated circuit process based on 4H silicon carbide designed to operate at temperatures beyond 300°C. N-channel and P-channel transistor characteristics at room and elevated temperatures are presented. Both channel types show the expected low values of field effect mobility well known in SiC MOSFETS. However the performance achieved is easily capable of exploitation in CMOS digital logic circuits and certain analogue circuits, over a wide temperature range.Data is also presented for the performance of digital logic demonstrator circuits, in particular a 4 to 1 analogue multiplexer and a configurable timer operating over a wide temperature range. Devices are packaged in high temperature ceramic dual in line (DIL) packages, which are capable of greater than 300°C operation. A high temperature “micro-oven” system has been designed and built to enable testing and stressing of units assembled in these package types. This system heats a group of devices together to temperatures of up to 300°C while keeping the electrical connections at much lower temperatures. In addition, long term reliability data for some structures such as contact chains to n-type and p-type SiC and simple logic circuits is summarized.

We present recent results on the direct heterogeneous integration of InP HBTs and Si CMOS on a silicon template wafer or SOLES (Silicon On Lattice Engineered Substrate). InP HBTs whose performance are comparable to HBTs on the native InP substrates have been repeatedly achieved. 100% heterogeneous interconnect yield has been achieved on daisy chain test structures with CMOS-InP HBT spacing (interconnect length) as small as 2.5um. In DARPA COSMOS Phase 1 we designed and fabricated a differential amplifier that met the program Go/NoGo metrics with first pass design success. As the COSMOS Phase 2 demonstration vehicle we designed and fabricated a low power dissipation, high resolution, 500MHz bandwidth digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

We present results on the direct monolithic integration of III–V devices and Si CMOS on a silicon substrate. InP HBTs (0.5 × 5 um2 emitter) with ft and fmax ≫ 200GHz were grown directly in windows adjacent to CMOS transistors on silicon template wafers or SOLES (Silicon on Lattices Engineered Substrates). A BCB based multilayer interconnect process was used to interconnect the InP HBT and Si CMOS to create a differential amplifier demonstration circuit. The heterogeneously integrated differential amplifier serves as the building block for high speed, low power dissipation mixed signal circuits such as ADCs and DACs.

We present results on the direct monolithic integration of III–V devices and Si CMOS on a silicon substrate. Through optimization of device fabrication and material growth processes III–V devices with electrical performance comparable to devices grown on native III–V substrates were grown directly in windows adjacent to CMOS transistors on silicon template wafers or SOLES (Silicon on Lattices Engineered Substrates). While the results presented here are for InP HBTs, our direct heterogeneously integration approach is equally applicable to other III–V electronic (FETs, HEMTs) and opto-electronic (photodiodes, VSCLS) devices and opens the door to a new class of highly integrated, high performance, mixed signal circuits.

We report on a direct epitaxial growth approach for the heterogeneous integration of high speed III-V devices with Si CMOS logic on a common Si substrate. InP-based heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBTs) structures were successfully grown on patterned Si-on-Lattice-Engineered-Substrate (SOLES) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. DC and RF performance similar to those grown on lattice-matched InP were achieved in growth windows as small as 15×15μm2. This truly planar approach allows tight device placement with InP-HBTs to Si CMOS transistors separation as small as 2.5 μm, and the use of standard wafer level multilayer interconnects. A high speed, low power dissipation differential amplifier was designed and fabricated, demonstrating the feasibility of using this approach for high performance mixed signal circuits such as ADCs and DACs.

Low‐temperature (LT) photoluminescence (PL) measurements on pseudomorphic modulation‐doped transistors with a (LT) GaAs layer in the GaAs substrate have revealed the existence of a substrate voltage. The substrate voltage is manifested by a decrease in the PL transition energies of the quantum‐well subbands due to the quantum confined Stark effect. Our results indicate that the substrate voltage is generated by the trapping of holes from the undoped molecular‐beam‐epitaxy‐grown GaAs at the GaAs/LT GaAs interface by the high concentration of arsenic antisite defects in the LT GaAs layer.