Fast Switching with SiC VJFETs - Influence of the Device Topology

Since SiC VJFETs are believed to offer extremely fast turn on and turn off processes it is important to understand how these transients are tailored by the layout. Regarding the basic layouts two main topologies are under investigation today – structures with the well known SIT layout with purely vertical current flow and lateral vertical concepts where the current flow through the channel is in lateral direction and the vertical current flow takes place in the drift region only. In this paper we will focus on differences in the electric characteristics of both structures and the relation of the dynamic behavior to the topology and the layout of the switches. For the analysis, 1200V VJFETs based on the two basic topologies were manufactured having approximately the same total and active device area. It turns out that the SIT switches under investigation suffer from a high internal gate resistance in the p-doped layers and a relatively high gate drain capacitance.