ELECTRIC FIELD SHIELDING IN SILICON CARBIDE METAL-OXIDE-SEMICONDUCTOR (MOS) DEVICE CELLS USING BODY REGION EXTENSIONS

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to semiconductor power devices, such as silicon carbide (SiC) power devices. In particular, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to disconnected or connected shielding regions that reduce the electric field present between the well regions of neighboring device cells of a semiconductor device under reverse bias. The disclosed shielding regions occupy a widest portion of the JFET region between adjacent device cells such that a distance between a shielding region and well regions surrounding device cell is less than a parallel JFET width between two adjacent device cells, while maintaining a channel region width and/or a JFET region density that is greater than that of a comparable conventional stripe device. As such, the disclosed shielding regions and device layouts enable superior performance relative to a conventional stripe device of comparable dimensions, while still providing similar reliability (e.g., long-term, high-temperature stability at reverse bias).