Integration of temperature and current sensors in 4H-SiC VDMOS

Maxime Berthou (1) , Philippe Godignon (1) , Pierre Brosselard (2) , Dominique Tournier (2) , José Millán (3)

1 CNM - Centro Nacional de Microelectronica [Spain]
2 AMPERE - Ampère
3 CNM - Centre Nacional de Microelectrònica

Silicon Carbide VDMOS with integrated current and temperature sensors have been successfully fabricated without degradation of the chip forward or reverse characteristics due to the sensors. The temperature sensors show impedance correlated to the temperature, which permits to track the drift region's temperature of the device. We have shown that the sensor current ratio can be influenced by the current spreading in the drift layer, especially when the channel resistance contribution is reduced. This aspect will be more critical on VDMOS with low channel resistance. Also, the sensor current ratio stability will be improved on devices with larger active area or thinner drift layer. Integration of such sensors will permit to monitor and protect innovative power electronic systems using SiC chips.

Mots clés: Power electronic systems; Channel resistance; Active area; Temperature sensor; Silicon carbide; Integration; Current sensors; Current sensor; Current spreading; Drift layers; Drift regions; Integrated currents; Reverse characteristics; Sensor current; VDMOS

Domaines: Energie électrique

Maxime Berthou, Philippe Godignon, Pierre Brosselard, Dominique Tournier, José Millán. Integration of temperature and current sensors in 4H-SiC VDMOS. CSCRM, Sep 2011, Cleveland, United States. ⟨hal-00747607⟩