Modeling and Mitigation of Heavy-Ion Device Degradation and Failure in SiC Schottky Diodes for Space Electronics

The approach is to study localized thermal heating on the SiC/metal interface due to heavy-ion impact. It is believed that local heating and the accompanying interfacial mixing are the primary cause of the observed leakage currents in SiC diodes. As a first step, DFT MD simulations are performed at different temperatures, which will allow insight into diffusional processes at the interface. In parallel with this analysis, the DFT-generated information is used to fit new, interatomic potentials for the SiC/metal system at ambient temperatures. Once the potential models have been developed, they are to simulate localized heating on the SiC/metal interface. The data obtained via MD are analyzed to characterize the evolution of the local structure at the interface. These results guide a deeper DFT study on the change of the Schottky barrier as a function of defects. The SiC/metal interfacial structure-dependent thermal and electrical properties obtained via MD enable high-fidelity device modeling techniques for better radiation-resistant designs.

Silicon carbide (SiC) based power devices provide advantages for aerospace applications. However, SiC devices are highly sensitive to cosmic radiation and terrestrial cosmic radiation, typically experiencing catastrophic failure at reverse bias voltages at 50% of their voltage rating. In order to utilize them as a practical alternative to silicon for spaceborne power electronics, basic research is required to further fundamental understanding of the failure mechanisms and to devise mitigation strategies. In particular, a deeper understanding of the effects of radiation-induced damage on the crystal structure and the subsequent modification of thermal/electronic properties of silicon carbide Schottky diodes is lacking. This knowledge is crucial, as SiC Schottky diodes show an ion-induced increase of reverse leakage current below the threshold of catastrophic failure or single-event burnout. Developing silicon carbide based electronic devices that are resistant to radiation damage is important in space applications. In this work, several mechanisms that lead to device failure because of space radiations were studied. The material properties that are identified here will help in designing radiation fail-safe future electronics

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