Nitrogen Implantation to Improve Electron Channel Mobility in 4H-SiC MOSFET

Normally off 4H-SiC MOSFET devices have been fabricated on a p-type semiconductor and electrically characterized at different temperatures. A gate oxide obtained by nitrogen ion implantation performed before the thermal oxidation of SiC has been implemented in n-channel MOSFET technology. Two samples with a nitrogen concentration at the SiO₂/SiC interface of 5 X 10¹⁸ and 1.5 X 10¹⁹ cm^-3 and one unimplanted sample have been manufactured. The sample with the highest N concentration at the interface presents the highest channel mobility and the lowest threshold voltage. For increasing temperature, in all the samples, the threshold voltage decreases, and the electron channel mobility increases. The latter case attains a maximum value of about 40 cm²/V ldr s at 200degC for the sample with the highest N concentration. These trends are explained by the reduction of interface electron traps in the upper half of the band gap toward the conduction band edge. These results demonstrate that N implantation can be effectively used to improve the electrical performances of an n-type surface channel 4H-SiC MOSFET.