Heavy-ion effects in SiC power MOSFETs with trench-gate design

SiC power MOSFETs with trench-gate structure have been irradiated with heavy-ion broad-beam and microbeam. Microdose effects resulting in higher sub-threshold drain leakage were observed when irradiating the devices at low drain-source voltages and reported for the first time for SiC power devices. Increasing the drain-source bias during the exposure, single-event leakage current (SELC), characterized by microbreaks in the gate oxide was measured. The accumulation of microbreaks eventually led to a complete gate rupture. The differences with respect to the SiC planar-gate MOSFETs and the impact of these results on the testing procedures for the two technologies are discussed.