Research on SiGeC power diodes with fast and soft recovery

A novel type of p⁺(SiGeC)-n^--n⁺ diodes with ultra fast and ultra soft reverse recovery characteristics is presented. The improvement of the novel diodes is achieved by the combination of new device structure and new semiconductor material. Based on the introduction of `ideal ohmic contact¿, the softness factor increases over four times, the reverse recovery time is over 60% short and the reverse peak current is reduced about 35%, while the blocking voltage is almost unchanged for the device with the optimized n- region doping concentration. Due to the addition of smaller-sized carbon atoms to p⁺(SiGe) layers, the dependence of device characteristics on critical thickness is reduced largely, which increases the device stability reduces process cost for further device process steps.