MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED SIC SUPER JUNCTION TRANSISTOR-JBS DIODE (MIDSJT) DEVICES ARE USED TO CONSTRUCT 500 OC…

Public award description

MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED SIC SUPER JUNCTION TRANSISTOR-JBS DIODE (MIDSJT) DEVICES ARE USED TO CONSTRUCT 500 OC CAPABLE MOTOR CONTROL POWER MODULES FOR DIRECT INTEGRATION WITH THE EXPLORATION ROVERS REQUIRED TO OPERATE IN VENUS-LIKE ENVIRONMENTS. THE PHASE I OF THIS PROPOSED WORK WILL FOCUS ON THE INTEGRATED MIDSJT DEVICE DEVELOPMENT AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE PACKAGING. PHASE II WILL FOCUS ON THE INTEGRATION OF THE MIDSJT DEVICES TO CONSTRUCT FULL 3-PHASE INVERTER MOTOR CONTROL MODULES. ALTHOUGH SIC IS THE SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL OF CHOICE FOR FABRICATING HIGH-TEMPERATURE (>150 OC) POWER ELECTRONICS, EXISTING SIC MOSFET AND JFET BASED TRANSISTOR DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES PERFORM POORLY AT TEMPERATURES EXCEEDING 200 OC. THE PROPOSED GATE OXIDE-FREE INTEGRATED MIDSJT DEVICE TECHNOLOGY WILL OVERCOME SEVERAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH EXISTING SIC DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES BY: (A) EXHIBITING DESIRABLE NORMALLY-OFF OPERATION YET BEST-IN-CLASS ON-STATE CHARACTERISTICS AT TEMPERATURES AS HIGH AS 500 OC, (B) ELIMINATING PARASITIC INDUCTANCES/CAPACITANCES ASSOCIATED WITH INTERCONNECTING DISCRETE DEVICES, AND (C) ELIMINATING HIGH-TEMPERATURE GATE OXIDE RELIABILITY ISSUES. SPECIAL DEVICE DESIGNS AND FABRICATION PROCESSES WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN THIS WORK FOR RELIABLE DEVICE OPERATION AT 500 OC. NOVEL POWER DEVICE PACKAGING TECHNIQUES IN THE AREAS OF POWER SUBSTRATE, DIE-ATTACH, CHIP METALLIZATION AND WIRE BONDS WILL BE EXPLORED TO DEMONSTRATE RELIABLE MODULE OPERATION AT 500 OC AFTER SEVERAL THERMAL CYCLES.