TCAD investigation of the transport of carriers deposited by alpha particles in silicon carbide power Schottky devices

Radioactive sources and spectroscopy techniques have been proposed in recent publications as an approach to sense the internal electric field and to assess the susceptibility of power semiconductors devices to terrestrial cosmic rays. In this paper, dedicated experiments and advanced TCAD tools are used to understand the formation and the collection of the charge pulses that are generated by alpha particles in SiC Schottky diodes. Special attention is paid to the processes leading to the multiplication of the carriers' species. It is shown that the charge multiplication process is strongly affected by the location of the interaction zone and on impinging angle of the ionizing particle, along with the biasing condition of the device.

Automated summary

Recent publications have proposed the use of radioactive sources and spectroscopy techniques to sense the internal electric field and assess the susceptibility of power semiconductor devices to terrestrial cosmic rays. This paper investigates the formation and collection of charge pulses generated by alpha particles in SiC Schottky diodes using dedicated experiments and advanced TCAD tools. The study highlights the impact of interaction zone location, ionizing particle impinging angle, and device biasing condition on the charge multiplication process.