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IET Power Electronics

Special Section: Selected Papers from the 14th International Seminar

on Power Semiconductors (ISPS 2018)

Displacement damage and total ionisation ISSN 1755-4535

Received on 10th January 2019
Revised 11th July 2019
dose effects on 4H-SiC power devices Accepted on 18th September 2019
E-First on 29th October 2019
doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2019.0049
www.ietdl.org

Pavel Hazdra1 , Stanislav Popelka1

1Department of Microelectronics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technická 2, 166 27 Prague 6, Czech
Republic
E-mail: hazdra@fel.cvut.cz

Abstract: A comprehensive study of displacement damage and total ionisation dose effects on 4H-silicon carbide power
devices is presented. Power diodes and transistors produced by different manufacturers were irradiated by high-energy particles
(protons, alphas, electrons and neutrons). The influence of radiation on device characteristics was determined, the introduced
radiation defects were identified, and the main degradation mechanisms were established. Results show that radiation leads to
the creation of acceptor traps in the lightly doped drift regions of irradiated devices. Devices then degrade due to the removal of
the carriers and the decrease in carrier mobility and lifetime. For unipolar devices, the gradual increase of the forward voltage is
typical while the blocking characteristics remain nearly unchanged. In bipolar devices, high introduction rates of defects cause a
sharp reduction of carrier lifetime. This results in shorter carrier diffusion lengths and subsequent loss of conductivity modulation
leading to a sharp increase of the forward voltage drop. The irradiation also shifts the threshold voltage of power switches. That
is critical, namely for metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors. According to the authors’ study, the junction barrier
Schottky diode and junction field-effect transistor (JFET) can be considered the most radiation-resistant SiC power devices.

1 Introduction studies reporting displacement damage effects of electron and

Silicon carbide (SiC) has a wider band gap, higher critical field
strength, twice the saturation velocity and three times the thermal
conductivity compared with Si [1]. Also, the energy required to
kick an atom out of the lattice position, i.e. the mean displacement
energy, is higher. The properties mentioned above predetermine
SiC to replace Si not only in power and high-frequency
applications but also in electronics for harsh radiation environment
such as space or nuclear applications. A good example from the
near future is a space mission to Jupiter's moon Europa planned by
NASA for 2022 [2], where SiC power switches could be applied in
a high-power electric propulsion system. Another example is the
application of high-voltage (HV) SiC Schottky diodes in efficient
power conversion (EPC) HV module in the rectifiers/filtering
section [3]. Radiation hard devices necessary for decommissioning
of the Tokyo electric power company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant are using SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor
field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in a motor-driver circuit [4] etc.
Owing to the recent improvements in the SiC technology based
on the 4H-SiC polytype, a number of new SiC power components
have emerged on the market: junction barrier Schottky (JBS)
diodes and MOSFETs [5], junction field effect transistors (JFETs)
[6, 7] and PiN diodes [8]; however, information about their
radiation resistance is very scarce.
The majority of publications investigating displacement damage
effects on SiC JBS and PiN diodes consider these structures as SiC
radiation detectors [9, 10]. Only a small number of experiments
have been performed on industrially manufactured JBS diodes [11,
12]. The results achieved show a similar effect of different
irradiating particles (electrons, protons and neutrons). Typical
degradation effect is the increase in the forward voltage drop
caused by the carrier removal in the drift region [10].
Total ionisation dose (TID) effects in SiC MOSFETs irradiated
by gamma rays are reported in [13–15]. Large negative threshold
voltage shift (about 5 V at a dose of 15 kGy) was observed on
devices, where the positive gate bias ( + 18 V) has been applied
during irradiation [15]. Very similar results are reported in [13] for
gate bias of  + 4.5 V. No significant change in the channel mobility
was observed in this work up to irradiation dose of 2 MGy. The
proton irradiation are mostly based only on lateral structures [16–
18], and thus they do not fully disclose the effect of displacement
damage in the epitaxial layer. There is only one study available
[19], which investigates the effect of proton irradiation on the
vertical 1200 V SiC MOSFET. The results achieved show only a
slight variation of the threshold voltage with fluency and monotone
increase in the leakage at zero biased gates. The peak field-effect
mobility then remains almost unchanged.
First studies concerning displacement damage effects in SiC
JFETs caused by neutron irradiation were reported more than 20
years ago [20, 21]. These experiments were performed on
laboratory samples based on 6H-SiC polytype. More recent works
performed investigated the effect of 60Co gamma radiation [22]
and 63 MeV proton irradiation [23] on 600 V 4H-SiC devices.
JFETs showed good radiation resistance: no changes in static and
dynamic parameters were observed up to doses of 3 kGy, and a
slight increase in on resistance and a decrease in leakage current in
blocking mode was observed for devices irradiated up to the dose
of 68 kGy [22]. Similar effects were registered after 4 MeV proton
irradiation to a fluence of 9 × 1011 cm−2 [23].
In this work, we give a comprehensive summary about the
radiation damage produced in the 4H-SiC n-type epitaxial layers by
different particles (protons, alphas, electrons and neutrons), the
main degradation phenomena caused by irradiation are discussed
and the effect of introduced defects on characteristics and
parameters of various SiC power devices [24] is presented, as well.
2 Experimental results
Different power devices were used in the experiment: JBS diodes
C2D05120A (5 A/1.2 kV) and CPW31700S010B (10 A/1.7 kV),
power MOSFET C2M1000170D (5 A/1.7 kV) all from Wolfspeed,
Inc., 4 A/1.7 kV normally off vertical trench JFET SJEP170R550
from former SemiSouth [25] and the power 4.5 kV PiN diode
chips. The schematic cross-section of all investigated SiC power
devices is shown in Fig. 1. Nitrogen-doped 4H-SiC epitaxial layers
on the n+ substrate were used for fabrication of all devices
mentioned above. Displacement damage and TID effects were
investigated after irradiation with high-energy (4.5 MeV) electrons

IET Power Electron., 2019, Vol. 12 Iss. 15, pp. 3910-3918 3910
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2019

Fig. 1  Schematic cross-section of the investigated SiC power devices: the
JBS diode (upper left), the PiN diode (upper right), the vertical MOSFET
(lower left) and the vertical trench JFET (lower right)
Fig. 2  Majority carrier DLTS spectra measured on the n-type 4H-SiC
after irradiation with 670 keV protons to a fluence of 7 × 1019 cm−2, 4.5  introduces homogeneous damage in the epitaxial layer [36, 40]. In
MeV electrons to a fluence of 5 × 1014 cm−2 and 1 MeV equivalent
neutrons to a fluence of 7 × 1013 cm−2. The DLTS spectrum of the
unirradiated sample is shown as reference, rate window 4.1 s−1. The
spectra are mutually offset for better readability
(dose range 1–2000 kGy), fast neutrons (fluences up to 4 × 1014 cm
−2 for 1 MeV Si equivalent), 670 keV protons (fluences 3 × 109–6  transformed into stable defects [38, 42, 43]. Dominant defects
× 1010 cm−2) and 1.9 MeV alphas (fluences 3 × 109–4 × 1010 cm
−2). The irradiation with 4.5 MeV electrons was performed using
the electron linear accelerator LINAC 4-1200 from TESLA V.T.
MIKROEL, s.r.o. [26]. The irradiation with the fast neutrons was
performed in the LR-0 light-water, pool-type research nuclear
reactor in Research Centre Řez (Czech Republic) with maximum
output power 1 kW [27]. The proton and alpha-particle irradiations
IET Power Electron., 2019, Vol. 12 Iss. 15, pp. 3910-3918
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2019
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were performed using the 3 MeV Tandetron facility in NPI CAS
Řez [28]. All investigated devices were unbiased during irradiation
experiments. Electrical characteristics (both static and dynamic)
were measured after irradiation and compared with those obtained
on pristine devices. Radiation damage was characterised by
capacitance to voltage (C–V) measurement, deep level transient
spectroscopy (DLTS) and open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD)
measurement [29].
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Radiation defects
The introduction of radiation defects into the 4H-SiC n-type
epitaxial layer forming the drift region of the JBS diode is shown
in Fig. 2, where the majority carrier DLTS spectra recorded after
irradiation with protons, electrons and neutrons are compared with
the DLTS spectrum of the unirradiated sample. One can see that
several peaks are formed in the spectra because of irradiation with
the particles mentioned above. These peaks are signs of deep levels
related to generated radiation defects. Deep levels then act as
electron traps and/or recombination centres depending on their
electronic configuration and location in the SiC band gap. The
overview about identification parameters (the energy position and
the electron capture cross-section) of deep levels introduced by
protons, electrons and neutrons and their possible identity is
presented in Table 1. Concerning radiation defects introduced by
alpha particles, their properties are identical to those produced by
protons [30].
For the irradiation with electrons and light ions (protons and
alphas), the prevalence of two dominant levels E2 (EC-0.60 eV)
and E3 (EC-0.72 eV) exhibiting acceptor character is typical.
Irradiation with fast neutrons then introduces deeper traps RD1/2
and RD4, which are related to more stable defects and can also be
found in 4H-SiC irradiated with heavier ions [36]. The majority of
radiation defects introduced into 4H-SiC by irradiation at room
temperature are unstable. They start to anneal out or transform into
more stable defects such as Z1/Z2 centres already at temperatures
lower than 200°C, i.e. in the typical temperature range of power
device operation. This is shown in Fig. 3, which presents the effect
of low-temperature annealing on DLTS spectra recorded on 4H-
SiC epilayers irradiated with 4.5 MeV electrons. To avoid defect
annealing during the DLTS measurement, the maximal temperature
of the DLTS scan must be lower than the temperature of particular
annealing. Therefore, defects appearing at the high-temperature
side of the DLTS spectra shown in Fig. 1, e.g. the EH6/EH7 centre,
are not visible in Fig. 3. The gradual transformation of defects E1,
E2 and E3 into S1, Z1/Z2 and S2 centres is well notable in Fig. 3.
Temperatures higher than 370°C are necessary to stabilise radiation
damage since the S1 and S2 centres anneal out between 320 and
370°C. After annealing at 370°C, only two defects dominate the
DLTS spectra of 4H-SiC irradiated by electrons and protons [38,
39]: the Z1/Z2 lifetime-limiting defect and the deeply lying level
EH6/7 which is the most efficient carrier generation centre. Both
centres are related to the carbon vacancy. They are very stable and
anneal out at temperatures higher than 1300°C [35].
Irradiation with high-energy electrons and fast neutrons
contrast with it, the damage produced by protons and alphas is
strongly localised close to the ion's projected range. Since diffusion
lengths of defects are negligible in SiC, the profile of deep levels
produced by light ions is very close to the distribution of primary
vacancies (see Fig. 4). Defect introduction rates, i.e. the number of
defects produced by the projectile, are higher in 4H-SiC than in Si.
More than a tenth of the primary damage (Frenkel's pairs) is
(Z1/Z2 and E1–E3 centres) have a character of deep acceptors.
Therefore, the lightly doped n-layers (drift regions) are
compensated already at low fluences of irradiation. This is
evidenced in Fig. 5 showing the measured profiles of free carriers
in the n-epilayer irradiated with different fluences of 1.9 MeV
alphas. C–V profiling reveals an inhomogeneous distribution of
free carriers in the form of a dip followed by a peak. This
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behaviour is characteristic of an inhomogeneous distribution of 3.2 Degradation mechanisms
deep acceptors in the n-type material [44]. The dip is due to the
local introduction of deep acceptors at the alpha's projected range In this section, we summarise the main mechanisms caused by
RP, where the concentration of acceptor defects peaks. The sharp radiation which degrade electrical parameters of irradiated SiC
material and structures. This summary is supported by
peak appearing just beyond RP is then an artefact of the C–V
experimental data presented in our prior works [25, 38].
profiling [44]. Results indicate that the local compensation of the In principle, there are three dominant phenomena related to the
epilayer forming the n-base of 1.2 kV JBS diode (ND = 5 × 1015 cm displacement damage that lead to degradation of irradiated devices:
−3) will occur already at fluences exceeding 1.5 × 1010 alphas/cm2. the carrier removal in the n-type drift region given by the
embedding of acceptor centres, the decrease in carrier mobility and
Table 1 Deep levels detected in n-type 4H-SiC after carrier lifetime. For devices containing charge sensitive dielectric
irradiation with neutrons, electrons, protons and alphas layer (MOSFETs and insulated-gate bipolar transistors), the
Level Band gap position, Capture cross-section, Reference embedding of charge into the gate oxide and the increase of
eV cm2 electronic states at the semiconductor/oxide interface caused by
irradiation also have to be taken into account. These effects usually
E0 EC−0.22 4 × 10−17 [31] cause an undesirable shift and hysteresis of the threshold voltage.
E1 EC−0.39 6 × 10−15 [31–33] Assuming the n-type epitaxial layer with the initial
E2 EC−0.60 [31–33] concentration of electrons n0, which is irradiated by particles
4 × 10−14
introducing homogeneous damage (electrons, neutrons and high-
Z1/Z2 EC−0.68 6 × 10−14 [7, 34, 35]
energy protons), the electron concentration after irradiation n reads
E3 EC−0.72 7 × 10−14 [31–33]
RD1/2 EC−0.88 3 × 10−14 [36, 37] n = n0 − K N Φ (1)
EH4 EC−1.04 6 × 10−14 [31, 34, 35]
where KN is the carrier removal rate and Ф is the particle fluence.
EH5 EC−1.10 5 × 10−15 [31, 34, 35]
This linear decrease in carrier concentration (measured by C–V
RD4 EC−1.45 8 × 10−14 [36, 37] profiling) with increasing fluence of irradiating particles is shown
EH6/7 EC−1.64 3 × 10−13 [31, 34, 35] in Fig. 6 for devices with different concentrations of nitrogen
donors in the epilayer [ND = 8.4 × 1015 (JFET), 5.6 × 1015 (1200 V
JBS diode) and 3.2 × 1015 cm−3 (1700 V JBS diode)]. For neutron
irradiation (the 1 MeV equivalent), KN varies from 11 to 18 cm−1
depending on the original doping of the material [25]. The 4.5 
MeV electron irradiation then gives an average KN of 1.0 cm−1
[38]. As one can see, the fluence, which is necessary for the total
carrier removal (the decrease of n to zero), depends on ND and KN
(the slope of curves). The linear relationship is mostly valid for low
fluences. At higher fluences, deviations may occur due to the
change in the dominant type of the acceptor centre (see electron
irradiation in Fig. 6 [38]).
The second effect, mobility degradation, is more pronounced in
SiC than in Si, where it takes place only at very high irradiation
doses. Our investigation based on careful simulation of JBS diode
ON-state characteristics and their comparison with experimental
data [38] showed that electron mobility μn significantly decreases
with irradiation dose as a result of increased concentration of
radiation defects NT according to the relation
Fig. 3  Effect of low-temperature isochronal (30 min) annealing on DLTS
spectra measured on the n-type 4H-SiC irradiated with 4.5 MeV electrons μmax − μmin
μn = μmin + βα (2)
to a dose of 200 kGy, rate window 4.1 s−1 1 + ND /Cr α + NT /Ct

where μmax <1120> = 920 cm2/V s, μmin <1120> = 10 cm2/V s are the

maximal (minimal] mobilities for the plane <1120>; μmax <0001> = 
830 cm2/V s, μmin <0001> = 10 cm2/V s are the maximal (minimal)
mobilities for the plane <0001>; ND is the total doping
concentration; and Cr = 2×1017 cm−3, Ct = 2.3×1015 cm−3, α = 0.76
and β = 2.9 are fitting parameters.
The third effect, which is the degradation of carrier lifetime τ, is
critical for the operation of bipolar devices. The decrease in carrier
lifetime means shorter diffusion lengths and subsequent loss of
carrier modulation in the ON state, leading to a sharp increase of
the forward voltage drop. The decrease is proportional to the
number of introduced defects and their carrier capture cross-
sections expressed by the lifetime degradation coefficient KT [45]

1 1
= + KT Φ (3)
τ τ0
Fig. 4  Distribution of the E2 defects (measurement) and primary
vacancies (simulated by the code stopping and range of ions in matter where τ0 is the original lifetime of the unirradiated device and Ф is
(SRIM) [41]) in the 4H-SiC epitaxial layer irradiated with 1.9 MeV alphas the particle fluence. Owing to higher defect introduction rates in
to a fluence of 3 × 109 cm−2 SiC, the values of the lifetime degradation coefficient are higher
compared with Si. For 4H-SiC irradiated with 4.5 MeV electrons

3912 IET Power Electron., 2019, Vol. 12 Iss. 15, pp. 3910-3918
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2019

Fig. 5  Free carrier (electron) profiles measured by C–V profiling in the
4H-SiC epitaxial layer irradiated with different fluences of 1.9 MeV alphas
(T = 300 K)
Fig. 6  Decrease of the free carrier (electron) concentration in the n-
epilayer of different SiC devices with increasing fluence of neutron (solid)
and electron (dashed) irradiation (obtained from room temperature C–V
measurement [25, 38])
Fig. 7  Effect 4.5 MeV electron irradiation on the forward I–V
characteristics of the 1.7 kV 4H-SiC JBS diode (C3D10170H) (room
temperature measurement)
we received KT = 3 × 10−7 s−1 cm2 [38], while substantially lower
values of the lifetime degradation coefficient were measured on Si:
1.2 × 10−8 s−1 cm2 for 12 MeV irradiation and 3 × 10−9 s−1 cm2 for
1 MeV irradiation [46]. On the other hand, the effect of increased
IET Power Electron., 2019, Vol. 12 Iss. 15, pp. 3910-3918
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recombination in SiC is first covered by generally lower values of
τ0 (1–10 µs) in SiC epilayers.
The degradation of the generation lifetime, which is related to
the introduction of the generation centres (namely, the EH6/7 level
lying close to the middle of the 4H-SiC band gap), is not so
important. The wide band gap of 4H-SiC guarantees extremely low
values of carrier generation rates and the leakage of irradiated
devices usually stays within device specification.
In addition to the three degradation phenomena described
above, radiation also introduces an extra charge into the oxide
layers (TID effects). Like in Si devices, the extra charge is
dominated by the positively charged holes trapped in the oxide
layer. This is, namely important for MOSFET switches where it
leads to the shift of the threshold voltage at already very low
irradiation fluences. According to Oldham and McGarrity [47], the
shift of the threshold voltage ΔVTH is given by the relation
2
q g0 f EOX f T D tOX
ΔV TH = (4)
εOX
In this relation, q represents the electronic charge, g0 the number of
generated electron–hole pairs (8.1 × 1012 cm−3 rad−1), f(EOX) the
fraction of generated holes versus the number of generated
electron–hole pairs given as a function of the electrical field EOX in
the oxide, fT the fraction of trapped holes versus the number of
generated holes, D the irradiation dose in radians, tOX the thickness
of oxide and ɛOX the permittivity of oxide. This shift of MOSFET's
threshold voltage is also dependent on the gate bias during
irradiation. Irradiation can also lead to the embedding of a negative
charge either due to the deep interface trap build-up and/or
charging of the interface states [48].
3.3 Impact on the device I–V characteristics
3.3.1 JBS diode: The JBS diode can operate in two modes. The
first is the unipolar mode, where only the Schottky diode is active
and the second is the bipolar mode, where both Schottky and PiN
diodes are active. Degradation effects on 1700 V JBS diode
C3D10170H were studied in the unipolar regime. Forward I–V
characteristics measured after electron irradiation are shown in
Fig. 7. As one can see, the threshold voltage of the diode is nearly
unchanged but the slope of the ON-state characteristics gradually
decreases with the irradiation dose. As a result, the ON-state
voltage drop grows. The mechanism responsible for the
degradation of forward I–V characteristics is the increase of the
drift region resistivity, which is caused by the decrease of
concentration and mobility of electrons. For irradiation doses
higher than 500 kGy, the drift region of the JBS diode (epilayer)
becomes fully compensated, and the diode loses its functionality.
According to the datasheet, the diode exceeds its maximum limit
for the ON-state voltage drop (2 V at 10 A) already at the dose of
200 kGy. The compensation effect is the most critical for JBS
diode operation in a radiation environment. The radiation
resistance is proportional to the doping level of the drift region and
the carrier removal rate corresponding to the applied particle. Since
the doping of the drift region decreases with increasing voltage
class, the radiation resistance of high-voltage JBS diodes will be
considerably lower, especially for irradiation with high KN
particles such as neutrons and protons.
The influence of irradiation on the JBS diode operating in the
bipolar mode [49] was not tested. This operation mode is important
for high surge current capability of the diode. One can assume that
the reduction of the carrier lifetime in the epitaxial layer will
decrease the efficiency of conductivity modulation. So, the
increasing dose of irradiation will probably decrease the surge
current capability of the JBS diode.
The effect of low-temperature annealing (between 25 and
200°C) on the forward characteristics of JBS diodes irradiated to a
dose of 200 and 500 kGy is shown in Fig. 8. One can see that the
gradient of the I–V curves increases with annealing temperature.
This shows that the low-temperature annealing causes a partial
recovery of epilayer's conductance. This effect, which is more
3913

Fig. 8  Variation of forward I–V characteristics of 1.7 kV 4H-SiC JBS
diodes (C3D10170H) irradiated by electrons to a dose of 200 and 500 kGy
caused by low-temperature isochronal (30 min) annealing (measurement at
room temperature)
Fig. 9  Blocking I–V characteristics measured on the 4H-SiC JBS diode
before (dashed) and after irradiation with 500 kGy of 4.5 MeV electrons
(solid): measurement at room temperature, 75 and 125°C
pronounced for higher irradiation doses (compared the
characteristics measured for irradiation doses of 200 and 500 kGy)
and annealing temperatures exceeding 150°C, is connected with
annealing and transformation of thermally unstable defects
(compare Fig. 8 with DLTS spectra shown in Fig. 3). It can be,
therefore, stated that SiC JBS diodes operating at higher
temperatures would have a higher radiation resistance.
The impact of radiation defects on the OFF-state I–V
characteristics of the JBS diode (the breakdown voltage and
leakage) is insignificant. This is shown in Fig. 9 presenting the
reverse I–V characteristics of the 1.7 kV JBS diode measured at
different temperatures before and after electron irradiations with a
dose of 500 kGy. When comparing the curves measured before and
after irradiation, it is obvious that the breakdown voltage of the
irradiated diode does not change or slightly increases. This is due
to the acceptor character of introduced defect centres. Leakage is
nearly unchanged since electrons do not produce deep-lying charge
generation centres such as EH6/EH7 (see Fig. 2). Therefore, the
diode is still working within its specification limits (300 µA/1700  by OCVD is shown in Fig. 11. Results show that the carrier
V at 125°C).
In principle, the sensitivity of blocking characteristics on
radiation damage may also be dependent on the type of diode
junction termination. This is because they have different
sensitivities to interface charge and variation in the doping
concentration. In the case of the investigated JBS diodes, the
floating guard rings (FGRs) termination was used. This termination
3914
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Fig. 10  Effect of neutron irradiation (1 MeV Si equivalent) on forward I–V
characteristics of a 4.5 kV SiC PiN power diode (room temperature
measurement)
Fig. 11  Effect of neutron irradiation (1 MeV Si equivalent) on the high-
level carrier lifetime measured by OCVD (room temperature measurement)
uses highly doped p+ rings, and its blocking capability then does
not depend on the marginal change in the p+-doping caused by
irradiation.
3.3.2 PiN diode: In the case of PiN diodes, all three degradation
mechanisms (the decrease in carrier concentration, mobility and
lifetime) are present but the most significant is only the lifetime
degradation. The effect of neutron irradiation on the forward I–V
characteristics of a 4.5 kV SiC PiN power diode is shown in
Fig. 10. Considerable higher sensitivity to the irradiation dose can
be observed compared with the JBS diode [43]. The reason for this
difference is different conductivity modes of both devices. PiN
diodes are bipolar structures, which profit from the conductivity
modulation phenomenon, which is very sensitive on the carrier
lifetime. In SiC, the lifetime of excess carriers is controlled by the
Z1/Z2 centres and its precursors – the E2 and E3 defects. Their
introduction rate is relatively high in SiC: up to 4 cm−1 for 1 MeV
neutrons [43]. This results in high values of the lifetime
degradation coefficient KT. The effect of neutron irradiation on the
high-level carrier lifetime measured in the 4.5 kV SiC power diode
lifetime is significantly reduced already at low irradiation fluences
(the carrier lifetime decreases below 200 ns for the irradiation
fluences higher than 1012 cm−2), which significantly shortens
diffusion lengths of injected carriers. As a result, a large part of the
PiN diode n-base region starts to be unmodulated. If we take into
account the fact that SiC PiN diodes are usually made for very high
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blocking voltages, what means larger thicknesses of the epilayer about four orders of magnitude more than for other irradiation
and the low doping concentration, the voltage drop in unmodulated doses. For higher drain-to-source voltages, the power loss on the
part of the n-base will be soon enormous. Concerning the effect of MOSFET may increase significantly, and the maximum junction
irradiation on the blocking capability of the PiN diode, similar temperature can be exceeded. This can lead to destruction of the
dependencies can be expected as in the case of the JBS diode. On transistor. The second measurement at VGS = − 1 V (the dashed
the other hand, the lifetime reduction caused by recombination line) then clearly shows that the negative gate bias, which
centres introduced by irradiation decreases the charge, which is compensates the fixed positive charge embedded into the gate
accumulated in the diode during its ON-state operation. The oxide, can restore the blocking capability of the MOSFET
irradiated PiN diode then turns OFF faster, and dynamic losses irradiated to a dose of 20 kGy. Again, as in the case of the JBS
caused by commutation decrease significantly [42]. diode, we see that the breakdown voltage of the MOSFET
increases with the irradiation dose.
3.3.3 Metal–oxide–semiconductor FET: Compared to diodes, The dependence of the MOSFET leakage at VDS = 100 V on the
the MOSFET transistor is a more sophisticated structure, which irradiation dose is also shown in Fig. 12. One can see that the
includes charge sensitive (dielectric) layers. The effect of magnitude of the MOSFET leakage current corresponds to the dose
irradiation is, therefore, more complex and comprises further dependence of VTH.
effects which also have to be taken under account. Figs. 12 and 13 If we compare the parameters of the irradiated MOSFET with
show how the electron irradiation influences the ON-state their specifications, we find that the RDS_ON meets them (the
characteristics and parameters of the 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET. The maximum of 1.4 Ω) in the whole range of irradiation doses. On the
transfer characteristics measured at room temperature on 1.7 kV other hand, the threshold voltage is out of the specification (2–4 V)
SiC MOSFET subjected to different doses of electron irradiation for irradiation doses between 5 and 20 kGy. The decrease in the
are shown in Fig. 12. We can clearly distinguish the change in threshold voltage brings some benefits – the reduction of power
characteristics caused by the MOS structure (gate oxide) dissipation due to the lower RDS_ON in the forward operation. On
degradation, which shifts characteristics horizontally, and the
the other hand, the low threshold voltage can be dangerous in the
degradation of the epitaxial layer (drift and JFET regions), which
blocking regime (the OFF state), especially for the zero gate bias of
causes downward bending of the transfer characteristic of the diode
the transistor.
irradiated with the dose of 200 kGy. Regarding the behaviour of
MOSFET transistor, one can see interesting dependence of transfer
characteristics on the irradiation dose. Already at low doses (1–20 
kGy), the threshold voltage is decreasing. On the contrary, for the
dose of 200 kGy, the inversed phenomenon is observed – VTH
returns to the original value. As one can see, for doses 1–20 kGy,
the shape of the transfer characteristics is identical. The increasing
electron dose then only shifts them leftward. This indicates that the
increase in the positive fixed charge in the gate oxide is the
dominant degradation mechanism in SiC MOSFET in this dose
range. It should be noted that the irradiation experiment was
performed for unbiased transistors. The gate bias can play an
important role because the f(Eox) term in (4) is dependent on the
applied voltage between the gate and source electrodes.
As a consequence of the increase in positive fixed gate charge,
the MOSFET threshold voltage is decreasing. This is accompanied
by a simultaneous decrease of RDS_ON given by the reduction of
the channel resistance. Both dependencies are shown in Fig. 13. Up
to a dose of 20 kGy, RDS_ON has a decreasing trend. For higher
doses, RDS_ON starts to increase. This is connected with two
effects. First, the threshold voltage VTH increases probably due to Fig. 12  Room temperature transfer characteristics ID = f(VGS) at VDS = 
the embedding of the negative charge at deep electron traps 50 mV of the SiC MOSFET irradiated by different doses of 4.5 MeV
localised near the interface between the oxide and SiC [50]. This electrons (room temperature measurement, MOSFETs were unbiased
negative charge trapped near the interface eventually overcomes during irradiation)
the positive trapped charge in the oxide and causes the turnaround
of the course of the dependence of the threshold voltage on the
irradiation dose. Later, the conductivity of the low-doped drift
region (epitaxial layer) decreases as a result of the carrier (electron)
removal caused by introduced acceptor centres. This effect is, as in
the case of a JBS diode, accompanied by a simultaneous decrease
in electron mobility. The degradation of RDS_ON is not only caused
by the degradation of the epilayer conductivity but also by the
increase of the JFET region resistance. This is given by the
reduction of the JFET region effective cross-section area caused by
increasing depletion layer widths with irradiation dose. The
narrowing of the JFET region then has a direct influence on the
current spreading from the JFET region into the drift region.
The effect of the decrease in threshold voltage on the blocking
characteristics is shown in Fig. 14. The measurement was
performed for two levels of the gate bias. First, VGS = 0 V (gate and
source electrodes shorted – solid lines) and the second VGS = −1 V
(dashed line). At the gate bias of 0 V, the MOSFET has a good
blocking capability for doses 1, 5 and 200 kGy. The different Fig. 13  Effect of the total irradiation dose of the 4.5 MeV irradiation on
situation is observed for the dose of 20 kGy. For this irradiation the threshold voltage VTH, the ON-state resistance RDS_ON and the leakage
dose, the lowest value of the threshold voltage (0.66 V) was current ID = f(VDS) at VGS = 0 V of the SiC MOSFET (room temperature
measured. As a result, the leakage current of the MOSFET measurement, MOSFETs were unbiased during irradiation)
increases to the level of 2 mA at blocking voltage of 750 V. That is

IET Power Electron., 2019, Vol. 12 Iss. 15, pp. 3910-3918 3915
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Fig. 14  Effect of different doses of 4.5 MeV electron irradiation on the
blocking characteristics of the 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET. Measured at room
temperature for VGS = 0 V (solid) and VGS = −1 V (dashed), MOSFETs
were unbiased during irradiation
Fig. 15  Effect of 1 MeV neutron irradiation (fluences 1.3 × 1013 to 4.0 × 
1014 cm−2) on the transfer ID = f(VGS) at VDS = 5 V of the 1.7 kV SiC
JFET (measurement at room temperature). The inset comprises blocking
characteristics ID = f(VDS) at VGS = 0 V of the unirradiated devices and the
device irradiated to a fluence of 1.7 × 1013 cm−2
3.3.4 JFET: Compared to the SiC MOSFET, the JFET structure
does not contain an oxide layer with a significant influence on the
device operation. Thus, only degradation mechanisms connected
with carrier removal can be expected. Fig. 15 shows how neutron
irradiation (1 MeV neutron equivalent) affects transfer
characteristics of 1.7 kV JFET SJEP170R550. One can see that the
threshold voltage grows and the transconductance is slightly
decreasing with increasing neutron fluence. The influence of
irradiation on transfer characteristics is similar to the case of
electron irradiated MOSFET but the degradation mechanism is
different. The growth of the threshold voltage and the decrease in
transconductance are given by the compensation of JFET's
epitaxial layer, i.e. by the compensation of the channel and the drift
regions [40]. Channel conductivity of the vertical normally off
JFET is controlled by the width of the depletion layer extending
into the channel region. This is set by the n-channel doping and the
voltage, which is applied in the forward direction on the p–n
junction between the gate and the channel (source). The
SJEP170R550 JFET is the normally off device, and the channel
area is fully depleted at the zero-voltage gate bias. Since the
irradiation decreases the effective doping concentration of the n-
channel layer by the introduction of acceptor centres, the threshold
voltage must increase to compensate this effect. The dependence of
3916
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Fig. 16  Effect of the fluence of neutron irradiation on the threshold
voltage VTH and the ON-state resistance RDS_ON of the SiC JFET
(measurement at room temperature)
Fig. 17  Input characteristics of SiC JFET recorded before and after
irradiation with 1 MeV neutrons to a fluence of 1.7 × 1014 cm−2. Room
temperature measurement for VDS = 0 V
the threshold voltage VTH and the ON-state resistance RDS_ON on
the applied neutron fluence is shown in Fig. 16. VTH was extracted
as an x-intercept of the extrapolated square root of the ID–VGS
curve. As one can see in Fig. 15, the device starts to lose its
functionality when the neutron fluence reaches 1.7 × 1014 cm−2
(according to the non-ionising energy loss scaling in Si [51], the
effect of this neutron fluence is equivalent to the effect of 4.5 MeV
electron irradiation to a fluence of 1.2 × 1016 cm−2). The loss of
functionality is due to the full compensation of the drift region,
which exhibits substantially lower donor doping than the channel
and leads to the enormous increase of RDS_ON.
The side effect of the doping compensation of the channel
region caused by neutron irradiation can be seen on the JFET input
characteristics shown in Fig. 17. One can see a significant increase
in the input series resistance and a slight increase of the gate
current in the knee area, which looks such as a decrease of the
threshold voltage of the gate-to-source junction. This effect is
mainly caused by the introduction of surface defects in the oxide
passivation layer along the outer side of the trench channel [40].
Blocking characteristics measured on 1.7 kV SiC JFET before
and after neutron irradiation to a fluence of 1.7 × 1014 cm−2 are
shown in the inset of Fig. 15. Again, the neutron irradiation
exhibits the same effect as in the case of JBS diodes. The JFET's
breakdown voltage slightly increases with neutron fluence, and the
breakdown becomes softer. We have no information about the type
of junction termination used in the investigated SiC JFET;
however, one can assume using of the highly doped FGRs, which
are not so sensitive to the change in their doping concentration.
IET Power Electron., 2019, Vol. 12 Iss. 15, pp. 3910-3918
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2019

Table 2 Overview of radiation resistance and dominant
degradation mechanisms appearing in investigated power
devices
Device Radiation Dominant degradation
resistance mechanism
JBS diode high carrier removala
PiN diode low lifetime degradation
MOSFET low VTH shift
JFET high carrier removala
aMore dangerous for higher-voltage classes. Concerns both the carrier removal in JBS
diode and JFET
The bold values (low/high) mean the level of radiation resistance of particular device.
Moreover, the neutron radiation causes indirect ionisation, and only
the secondary reactions can generate the TID effects causing a
significant change in the interface charge of junction termination.
Therefore, the junction termination is not affected by neutron
irradiation and the blocking capability of the investigated JFET is
mainly given by radiation effects occurring in the epitaxial layer.
4 Conclusions
We showed that irradiation of 4H-SiC power devices (JBS and PiN
diodes, MOSFETs and JFETs) gives rise to three dominant
phenomena related to displacement effects that lead to the
degradation of their electrical characteristics: the carrier removal in
the n-type drift region given by the embedding of deep acceptor
centres, the degradation of carrier mobility and carrier lifetime,
which is caused by the Z1/Z2 centres and related E2 and E3 levels.
In the case of devices containing oxide layers, the TID effects are
observed: the irradiation introduces an extra positive charge into
the oxide and/or can also cause negative charging of electronic
states located at the semiconductor/oxide interface.
Concerning the radiation resistance, the most rugged SiC power
devices are the unipolar devices without a sensitive oxide layer: the
JBS diode and JFET (see Table 2). The dominant degradation
mechanism causing malfunction of these two devices is the
increase of the ON-state resistance, which is simultaneously caused
by the compensation of the drift region and the lowering of
electron mobility. In the case of JFET, the increase in the drift (and
channel) region resistivity is accompanied by a weak positive shift
of the threshold voltage with radiation dose. Also, in the case of
MOSFET, the carrier removal causes a final loss of device
functionality; however, the TID effects cause a rapid decrease of
the threshold voltage already at very low doses. High sensitivity to
the radiation dose also exhibits the PiN diode. This is due to the
high introduction rate of lifetime killing defects (the Z1/Z2
centres), which causes a sharp reduction of carrier lifetime. This
results in shorter carrier diffusion lengths and subsequent loss of
carrier modulation in the ON state leading to a sharp increase of
the forward voltage drop. On the other hand, the lifetime reduction
decreases the charge, which has accumulated the PiN diode during
the ON state and fastens its turn OFF.
The majority of radiation defects introduced into 4H-SiC are
unstable, and some defects are already disappearing at
temperatures lower than 200°C. This may lead to a reduction of
radiation effects especially when SiC power devices are operating
near their maximum operating temperature.
5 Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the EU FP7 NMP 604057 project
SPEED and the project SGS17/095/OHK3/1 T/13 of the CTU
Prague. Proton irradiations were carried out at the CANAM
infrastructure of the NPI CAS Řez supported through MEYS
Project no. LM2015056. Authors would also like to thank Michal
Koštál and Ján Milčák for neutron irradiation.
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