SiC Schottky diodes for harsh environment space applications

Philippe Godignon (1) , Xavier Jordà (2) , Miquel Vellvehi (2) , Xavier Perpina (2) , Viorel Banu (2) , D. Lopez (3) , J. Barbero (3) , Pierre Brosselard (4) , S. Massetti (5, 6)

1 CNM - Centro Nacional de Microelectronica [Spain]
2 CNM - Centre Nacional de Microelectrònica
3 Alter Techn. Group
4 AMPERE - Ampère
5 TAS - Thales Alenia Space [Toulouse]
6 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre

This paper reports on the fabrication technology and packaging strategy for 300-V 5-A silicon carbide Schottky diodes with a wide temperature operation range capability (between -170°C and 300°aC). These diodes have been designed for harsh environment space applications such as inner Solar System exploration probes. Different endurance tests have been performed to evaluate the diode behavior when working at a high temperature and under severe thermal cycling conditions (ranged from -170 °C to 270 C). The radiation hardness capability has been also tested. It has been found that the hermeticity of the package in a neutral atmosphere is a key aspect to avoid an electrical parameter drift. Moreover, the use of gold metallization and gold wire bonds on the anode allows reducing the diode surface and bonding degradation when compared to Al-containing technology. On the back-side cathode contact, the Ti/Ni/Au metallization and AuGe combination have shown a very good behavior. As a result, the manufactured diodes demonstrated high stability for a continuous operation at 285 C.

Mots clés: packaging; radiation hardness; Schottky diodes; silicon carbide (SiC)space electronics; Continuous operation; Cycling conditions; Electrical parameter; Endurance test; Fabrication Technologies; Gold metallization; Gold wire; Harsh environment; Hermeticity; High stability; High temperature; Neutral atmosphere; SiC Schottky diode; Silicon carbide schottky diodes; Solar system exploration; Wide temperature operation

Domaines: Energie électrique

Philippe Godignon, Xavier Jordà, Miquel Vellvehi, Xavier Perpina, Viorel Banu, et al.. SiC Schottky diodes for harsh environment space applications. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2011, 58 (7), pp.2582 - 2590. ⟨10.1109/TIE.2010.2080252⟩. ⟨hal-00747617⟩