Power Electronics based on Silicon Carbide

Power electronics based on novel Silicon Carbide devices for higher efficiency, smaller size and high temperature operation. Acreo has been active in the Silicon Carbide field since 1993. We have covered all aspects of Silicon Carbide technology from device design to epitaxy and device manufacturing. This has given us an extensive knowledge base which we now can apply to your unique needs.

We offer

• Power system studies
• Device design
• SiC manufacturing
• SiC epitaxy service 

Power system studies

We now expand our competence towards power electronic systems using SiC devices. The purpose is to speed up the implementation of high performance SiC technology. This can generate new competitive products. In close cooperation with industry partners and research groups we do system evaluation studies for different applications and bench­mark with silicon technology.

Device design

We design and simulate high performance SiC power devices to your needs. Examples from previous work are devices like MOSFET, JFET and JBS diodes. We have experience on several designs for an optimised and reliable high voltage junction termination. For high temperature stability and low loss conduction can we use our integrated epitaxy process design instead of ion implantion.

SiC manufacturing

Fabrication of devices are made in house with full process control and traceability. We have a 1300 m² clean-room with complete process lines for 4” wafers. Post process equipment including large area flip-chip bonding. A complete set of test equipment is available to characterise epilayers and com­ponents made in our facility. We can keep turnaround times for evaluation batches of simple devices very short and have the capacity to move to pilot and medium size volumes when the design is mature. .

SiC epitaxy service

Custom epitaxy service on 3" and 100 mm wafers (4H, 6H and 3C) for demanding device designs. A wide doping range for both n-type and p-type doping and the possibility of growing several layers in the same run (including pn-junctions) gives you a unique advantage in component performance. Epitaxial regrowth processes and implantation anneal are other services offered on a regular basis.

Project Reference

LASTPOWER (Eniac) - High temperature stable SiC device processes

Denso – Double Gate JFET

TranSiC – Epitaxy for BJT

MANSIC (EU) – Network for 3C-SiC device design and processing

BIKT (SE) - Intelligent Power module concept, JFET and JBS diode

Imagic (SE) – SiC Avalanche Photo Detector UV sensor

TAK (SE ) – JBS diode for 100 KW Power module

Hoya – 3C-SiC MOSFET

SOLSIC (EU) - 3C-SiC epitaxy, SBD and MOSFET

DENIS (EU) – GaN HEMT

Cree / Intrinsic – Lateral Epitaxy SiC MESFETs

ABB – SiC technology development, of 4,5KV PiN

Publications Selection

1. Sensitive and stable SiC APD for UV detection
   Savage, Susan  (Acreo AB); Schöner, Adolf; Petermann, Ingemar; Bakowski, Mietek
   Proceedings of SPIE,  v 7726,  2010,  Optical Sensing and Detection
2. Design and gate drive considerations for epitaxial 1.2 kV buried grid N-on and N-off JFETs for operation at 250C . Lim, J.-K. (Acreo AB); Bakowski, M.; Nee, H.-P.
   Silicon Carbide and Related Materials 2009: ICSCRM 2009
3. Experimental evaluation of different passivation layers on the perf. of 3kV 4H-SiC BJTs. Ghandi, R. (KTH); Domeij, M.; Esteve, R.; Buono, B.; Schöner, A.; Han, et  al
   Silicon Carbide and Related Materials 2009: ICSCRM 2009
4. Design, process, and performance of all-epitaxial normally-off SiC JFETs
   Malhan, R (Denso); Bakowski, M; Takeuchi, Y; Sugiyama, N; Schöner, A
   Physica Status Solidi (A) Applications and Materials, v 206, n 10, p 2308-2328,  Oct 2009
5. Advanced oxidation process combining oxide deposition and short postoxidation step for N -type 3C - & 4H-SiC. Esteve, R. (Acreo); Schöner, A.; Reshanov, S.A.; Zetterling, C.-M.; Nagasawa, H. Journal of Applied Physics,  v 106, n 4,  2009
6. Challenges for improving the crystal quality of 3C-SiC verified with MOSFET performance
   Nagasawa, H. (Hoya); Yagi, K.; Kawahara, T.; Hatta, N.; Abe, M.; Schöner, A.; Bakowski, M.; Ericsson, P.; Pensl, G. Materials Science Forum,  v 600-603, pt.1, p 89-94,  2009
7. In-situ nitrogen and aluminum doping in migration enhanced embedded epitaxial growth of 4H-SiC. Schöner, A. (Acreo); Sugiyama, N.; Takeuchi, Y.; Malhan, R.K.
   Materials Science Forum,  v 600-603, p 175-178,  2009,  SiC and Related Materials 2007
8. Fabrication and characterization of 3C-SiC-based MOSFETs
   Schöner, A (Acreo); Krieger, M; Pensl, G; Abe, M; Nagasawa, H
   Chemical Vapor Deposition,  v 12, n 8-9, p 523-530,  August 2006
9. Pressure dependence of aluminum doping in SiC vapor phase epitaxy
   Schöner, Adolf (Acreo); Gustafsson, Malin
   Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings,  v 815, p 47-52,  2004,
10. Highly uniform epitaxial SiC-layers grown in a hot-wall CVD reactor with mech. rotation
    Schöner, A. (Acreo); Konstantinov, A.; Karlsson, S.; Berge, R.
    Materials Science Forum,  v 389-393, n 1, p 187-190,  2002
11. Deep level investigation of pn-junctions formed by MeV aluminum and boron implantation into 4H-SiC
    Schöner, A. (Acreo); Miyamoto, N.; Kimoto, T.; Matsunami, H.
    Materials Science Forum,  v 353-356, p 451-454,  2001
12. SiC power devices for high voltage applications
    Rottner, K. (ABB); Frischholz, M.; Myrtveit, T.; Mou, D.; Nordgren, K.; Henry, A.; Hallin, C.; Gustafsson, U.; Schöner, A.
    Materials Science and Engineering B: Solid-State Materials for Advanced Technology,  v 61, p 330-338,  1999