Microwave p-i-n diodes and switches based on 4H-SiC

Author

Camara, N. ; Zekentes, K. ; Romanov, L.P. ; Kirillov, A.V. ; Boltovets, M.S. ; Vassilevski, K.V. ; Haddad, G.

Author_Institution

MRG-IESL, Found. for Res. & Technol., Crete, Greece

Volume

27

Issue

2

fYear

2006

Firstpage

108

Lastpage

110

Abstract

The 4H-SiC p-i-n diodes were designed, fabricated, and characterized for use in microwave applications. The diodes with mesa structure diameters between 80 and 150 μm, exhibited a blocking voltage of 1100 V, a 100-mA differential resistance of 1-2 /spl Omega/, a capacitance below 0.5 pF at a punchthrough voltage of 100 V and a carrier effective lifetime between 15-27 ns. X-band microwave switches based on 4H-SiC p-i-n diodes are demonstrated for the first time. The switches exhibited insertion loss as low as 0.7 dB, isolation up to 25 dB and were able to handle microwave power up to 2.2 kW in isolation mode and up to 0.4 kW in insertion mode.

Keywords

integrated circuit design; microwave diodes; microwave switches; p-i-n diodes; silicon compounds; 100 V; 100 mA; 1100 V; 80 to 150 micron; SiC; microwave p-i-n diodes; microwave switches; punchthrough voltage; Charge carrier lifetime; Communication switching; Electromagnetic heating; Gallium arsenide; Microwave devices; P-i-n diodes; Power semiconductor switches; Semiconductor diodes; Silicon carbide; Voltage; Microwave switches; p-i-n diode; silicon carbide;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LED.2005.862686

Filename

1580597