This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-041089, filed on Mar. 3, 2015; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a semiconductor device.
In a semiconductor device, ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) resistance is requested. However, when ESD is input to a MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor), an electric current is concentrated on a part of the MOSFET and the MOSFET is easily broken.
A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type in contact with the first semiconductor region, a third semiconductor region of the first conductivity type in contact with the second semiconductor region and spaced from the first semiconductor region, a first insulating film provided between the first semiconductor region and the third semiconductor region on the second semiconductor region, a first electrode provided on the first insulating film, a high-pass filter connected between the first semiconductor region and the third semiconductor region, and a low-pass filter connected between the second semiconductor region and the third semiconductor region.
First, a first embodiment is described.
As shown in
Note that, in the specification, the superscripts “+” and “−” attached to the characters “p” and “n” representing the conductivity types relatively represent carrier concentrations. For example, concerning a region, a conductivity type of which is a p-type, conductivity types are represented as “p+-type”, “p-type”, and “p−-type” in the descending order of the carrier concentrations. The same applies to an n-type.
The carrier concentration is regarded as effective impurity concentration. The “effective impurity concentration” refers to the concentration of impurities contributing to electric conduction of a semiconductor material. When a certain portion includes both of impurities functioning as a donor and impurities functioning as an accepter, the “effective impurity concentration” refers to concentration excluding offsets of the impurities.
In another part on the drift region 12, a back gate region 13, a conductivity type of which is the p-type, is provided. The back gate region 13 is spaced from the drain contact layer 14 by the drift region 12. In a part on the back gate region 13, a back gate contact layer 16, a conductivity type of which is the p+-type, is provided.
In another part on the back gate region 13, a source contact layer 15, a conductivity type of which is the n+-type, is provided. The source contact layer 15 configures a source region. The source contact layer 15 is disposed between the drain contact layer 14 and the back gate contact layer 16 and spaced from the back gate contact layer 16 and the drift layer 12 by the back gate region 13.
The semiconductor substrate 11, the drift region 12, the back gate region 13, the drain contact layer 14, the source contact layer 15, and the back gate contact layer 16 are parts of a semiconductor portion 10. The semiconductor portion 10 is formed by a contiguous semiconductor material, for example, single crystal silicon. Therefore, regions and layers adjacent to each other are in contact with each other. For example, the drift region 12 is in contact with the semiconductor substrate 11, the back gate region 13, and the drain contact layer 14. The back gate region 13 is in contact with the source contact layer 15 and the back gate contact layer 16. Note that the semiconductor substrate 11 is not limited to a substrate itself and may be a semiconductor layer formed by doping impurities in the substrate.
A field insulating film 21 is provided between the drain contact layer 14 and the back gate region 13 on the drift region 12. The field insulating film 21 is spaced from the back gate region 13. A lower part of the field insulating film 21 is disposed in the drift region 12. The field insulating film 21 is provided to relax an electric field and improve a breakdown voltage of the LDMOS.
A gate electrode 26 is provided in, on the semiconductor portion 10, a channel portion 17 between the source contact layer 15 and the drift region 12 in the back gate region 13, a portion between the back gate region 13 and the field insulating film 21 in the drift region 12, and a position opposed to a portion on the back gate region 13 side in the field insulating film 21. A gate insulating film 22 is provided between the semiconductor portion 10 and the gate electrode 26. Consequently, a portion on the source contact layer 15 side in the gate electrode 26 is disposed on the gate insulating film 22. A portion on the drain contact layer 14 side in the gate electrode 26 is disposed on the field insulating film 21. The field insulating film 21 is thicker than the gate insulating film 22.
An interlayer insulating film 23 is provided on the semiconductor portion 10 to cover the gate electrode 26. The upper surface of the field insulating film 21 is covered by the gate electrode 26 and the interlayer insulating film 23. The field insulating film 21, the gate insulating film 22, and the interlayer insulating film 23 are parts of an insulating portion 20. The insulating portion 20 is formed of, for example, silicon oxide.
A drain electrode 27, a source electrode 28, and a back gate electrode 29 are provided in the interlayer insulating film 23. The lower end of the drain electrode 27 is ohmic-connected to the drain contact layer 14. The lower end of the source electrode 28 is ohmic-connected to the source contact layer 15. The lower end of the back gate electrode 29 is ohmic-connected to the back gate contact layer 16.
The drain electrode 27 is connected to a drain terminal 31. The back gate electrode 29 is connected to a source terminal 32. A capacitor 33 is connected between the drain electrode 27 and the source electrode 28. An inductor 34 is connected between the source electrode 28 and the back gate electrode 29.
As shown in
As shown in
The operation of the semiconductor device according to the embodiment is described.
As shown in
In this state, when an ESD current 50 of positive polarity is input to the drain terminal 31, the ESD current 50 flows into the drift region 12 via the drain electrode 27 and the drain contact layer 14. The potential of the drift region 12 rises. When a potential difference between the drift region 12 and the back gate region 13 exceeds a breakdown voltage, avalanche breakdown occurs on a pn interface 51 and a hole-electron pair is generated. A generated electron current 52 is absorbed by the drain electrode 27. A generated hole current 53 is absorbed by the back gate electrode 29.
At this point, a part of the ESD current 50 input to the drain terminal 31 flows into the source electrode 28 via the capacitor 33. Therefore, the potential of the source contact layer 15 rises. Consequently, a pn interface 54 between a p-type back gate region 13 and the n+-type source contact layer 15 changes to a reverse bias state. It is possible to prevent the hole current 53 from flowing into the source contact layer 15. Consequently, it is possible to prevent an electron current from flowing from the source contact layer 15 to the back gate region 13 because the hole current 53 flows into the source contact layer 15. As a result, a parasitic npn bipolar transistor composed of the n− -type drift region 12, the p-type back gate region 13, and the n+-type source contact layer 15 does not conduct. A snap-back phenomenon does not occur. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the parasitic npn bipolar transistor conducts because of the ESD current 50, a large current flows into a conducting portion, and the semiconductor device 1 is broken.
Note that the inductor 34 functioning as the low-pass filter does not allow the ESD current 50 to flow. Therefore, the ESD current 50 does not flow into the back gate contact layer 16 via the back gate electrode 29. Therefore, the hole current 53 is not hindered from flowing to the back gate contact layer 16. When an ESD current of negative polarity is input to the drain terminal 31, the pn interface 51 changes to a forward bias state and allows the ESD current to directly flow. Therefore, a problem less easily occurs.
Effects of the embodiment are described.
As described above, in the semiconductor device 1, the capacitor 33 functioning as the high-pass filter is connected between the drain electrode 27 and the source electrode 28. Therefore, when the ESD current 50 of positive polarity is input to the drain terminal 31, a part of the ESD current 50 flows into the source electrode 28 and increases the potential of the source contact layer 15. Therefore, even if the avalanche breakdown is caused by the ESD current 50 flowing into the drift region 12 via the drain electrode 27, a hole current caused by the avalanche breakdown is suppressed from flowing into the source contact layer 15. Conduction of the parasitic npn bipolar transistor is suppressed. Therefore, the snap-back current less easily flows. As a result, a local voltage drop due to the snap-back phenomenon does not occur. Therefore, local concentration of the ESD current does not occur and the semiconductor device 1 is less easily broken down. In this way, according to the embodiment, it is possible to realize a semiconductor device having high ESD resistance.
A comparative example of the first embodiment is described.
As shown in
In the semiconductor device 101 according to the comparative example, when the ESD current 50 of positive polarity is input to the drain terminal 31, the ESD current 50 does not flow into the source electrode 28. The potential of the source contact layer 15 does not rise. Therefore, when the avalanche breakdown is caused by the ESD current 50 flowing into the drift region 12 via the drain electrode 27 and the electron current 52 and the hole current 53 are generated from the pn interface 51, the hole current 53 flows into the back gate region 13. When the potential of the back gate contact layer 16 rises, a part of the hole current 53 flows into the source contact layer 15.
According to the inflow of the hole current 53, an electron current 56 flows into the back gate region 13 from the source contact layer 15. The electron current 56 is absorbed by the drain electrode 27 via the drift region 12 and the drain contact layer 14. That is, a collector current flows into a parasitic npn bipolar transistor in which the n−-type drift region 12 is a collector, the p-type back gate region 13 is a base, and the n+-type source contact layer 15 is an emitter. The electron current 56 causes larger avalanche breakdown on the pn interface 51. When this phenomenon occurs, the breakdown voltage of the pn interface 51 excessively drops and a so-called snap-back phenomenon occurs. Once the snap-back phenomenon occurs in a certain portion, a voltage applied to the other portions is reduced and an ESD current does not flow. Therefore, an electric current concentratedly flows to a portion where the snap-back phenomenon occurs first. The semiconductor device 101 is broken down. In this way, the semiconductor device 101 according to the comparative example has ESD resistance lower than the ESD resistance of the semiconductor device 1 according to the first embodiment.
A variation of the first embodiment is described.
As shown in
Components, operations, and effects other than those described in the variation above are the same as the those of the first embodiment described above.
A second embodiment is described.
As shown in
Specifically, the n-type well 19 is formed on the p−-type semiconductor substrate 11. A p−-type drift region 12r is provided on the well 19. An n-type back gate region 13r and a p+-type drain contact layer 14r are provided spaced from each other on the p−-type drift region 12r. A p+-type source contact layer 15r and an n+-type back gate contact layer 16r are provided spaced apart from each other on the back gate region 13r. A field insulating film 21 is provided between the back gate region 13r and the drain contact layer 14r. Components other than the components described above in the semiconductor device 2 are the same as those of the semiconductor device 1 (see
The operation of the semiconductor device according to the embodiment is described.
In the semiconductor device 2, drain potential of negative polarity, for example, ground potential is applied to the drain terminal 31. A source potential of positive polarity is applied to the source terminal 32. In the embodiment, an ESD current 50r of negative polarity is input to the drain terminal 31. Note that this situation is equivalent to the situation in which an ESD current of positive polarity is input to the source terminal 32 while the drain potential is fixed to the ground potential.
The ESD current 50r of negative polarity input to the drain terminal 31 flows into the drift region 12r via the drain electrode 27 and the drain contact layer 14r and reduces the potential of the drift region 12r. When a potential difference between the p−-type drift region 12r and the n-type back gate region 13r exceeds a breakdown voltage, avalanche breakdown occurs on the pn interface 51 and a hole-electron pair is generated. The generated electron current 52 is absorbed by the back gate electrode 29. The generated hole current 53 is absorbed by the drain electrode 27.
At this point, a part of the ESD current 50r input to the drain terminal 31 flows into the source electrode 28 via the capacitor 33. Therefore, the potential of the source contact layer 15r drops. Consequently, the pn interface 54 between the n-type back gate region 13r and the p+-type source contact layer 15r changes to a reverse bias state. It is possible to prevent the electron current 52 from flowing into the source contact layer 15r. Consequently, it is possible to prevent a hole current from flowing from the source contact layer 15r to the back gate region 13r because the electron current 52 flows into the source contact layer 15r. As a result, it is possible to suppress conduction of a parasitic pnp bipolar transistor composed of the p−-type drift region 12r, the n-type back gate region 13r, and the p+-type source contact layer 15r. A snap-back phenomenon less easily occurs. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a situation in which the parasitic pnp bipolar transistor conducts because of the ESD current 50r, a large current locally flows, and the semiconductor device 2 is broken.
Effects of the embodiment are described.
In the embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the capacitor 33 functioning as the high-pass filter is connected between the drain electrode 27 and the source electrode 28. Therefore, when the ESD current 50r of negative polarity is input to the drain terminal 31, a part of the ESD current 50r flows into the source electrode 28 and reduces the potential of the source contact layer 15r. Therefore, an electron current caused by the avalanche breakdown is suppressed from flowing into the source contact layer 15r. The parasitic pnp bipolar transistor less easily conduct. Therefore, the snap-back current less easily flows. In this way, according to the embodiment, it is also possible to realize a semiconductor device having high ESD resistance.
A third embodiment is described.
Note that, for convenience of illustration, in
As shown in
In the semiconductor device 3, as in the semiconductor device 1 (see
In the embodiment, as in the first embodiment, when an ESD current of positive polarity is input to the drift terminal 31, it is possible to suppress a snap-back phenomenon by increasing the potential of the source contact layer 15 via the high-pass filter 63. As a result, it is possible to feed the ESD current to entire belt-like transistor regions. It is possible to avoid breakage of the semiconductor device 3 due to current concentration.
Components, operations, and effects other than those described above in the embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment described above.
A fourth embodiment is described.
As shown in
Components, operations, and effects other than those described above in the embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment described above.
An experiment example indicating the effects of the first embodiment described above is described.
In the experiment example, a simulation was performed assuming an n-channel-type LDMOS having gate width of 800 μm. In the semiconductor device according to the first embodiment (see
As shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
In this way, according to the first embodiment, compared with the comparative example, the hole current flowing to the source electrode was able to be suppressed to approximately one third. As described above, it is possible to prevent the snap-back phenomenon by suppressing the hole current flowing to the source electrode.
According to the embodiments described above, it is possible to realize a semiconductor device having high ESD resistance.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the invention. Additionally, the embodiments described above can be combined mutually.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-041089 | Mar 2015 | JP | national |