A method for detecting the safe operating range of gallium nitride power devices in the case of single-event burn-out.

Abstract

The application provides a method for detecting a safe working interval of a single particle burnout effect of a gallium nitride power device, and has the characteristics that: under a rated voltage, the electrical performance of a device to be detected is detected to obtain a first transfer characteristic curve; under a preset bias voltage, the electrical performance of the device to be detected is detected to obtain a second transfer characteristic curve, and a drain preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is greater than a drain rated voltage in the rated voltage; under the preset bias voltage and a preset irradiation, the electrical performance of the device to be detected is detected to obtain a third transfer characteristic curve; the first transfer characteristic curve and the second transfer characteristic curve determine a non-irradiation safe voltage of the device to be detected; and the application determines the safe working interval of the single particle burnout effect of the device to be detected based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve and the non-irradiation safe voltage.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor, and particularly relates to a method for detecting a safe working interval of a single particle burnout effect of a gallium nitride power device. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the continuous development of space technology, various electronic devices have been widely used in artificial satellites, launch vehicles, spacecraft and other systems. Therefore, electronic devices will inevitably be in a space radiation application environment, which puts higher requirements on the radiation resistance stability of the devices. As a typical representative of the third generation of wide bandgap semiconductors, GaN has a wider bandgap, higher breakdown field, higher saturation electron velocity, higher thermal conductivity, high voltage resistance, high temperature resistance and radiation resistance compared with the first generation of semiconductors Si and the second generation of semiconductors GaAs. These advantages make GaN an ideal material for power devices under extreme conditions such as high temperature, high frequency and space radiation environment. In the future, GaN-based devices will be widely used in the fields of laser, radar and aerospace.

[0003] According to the data statistics in recent years, more than 50% of the spacecraft failures are caused by space radiation. According to the interval division, the space radiation environment is mainly divided into galactic cosmic rays (GCR), solar cosmic rays (SCR) and earth radiation belts (also known as Van Allen radiation belts). There are a large number of high-energy particles in the space environment, mainly electrons (energy > 5 MeV), protons (energy 0.1-5 MeV) and a small amount of heavy ions. In the outer space environment, there are a large number of galactic cosmic rays, solar flares and particles in the geomagnetic trapping zone, which will have an indelible impact on the reliability of electronic devices on spacecraft.

[0004] The enhanced P-gate structure GaN power device grows a positive (P-type) GaN layer on the top of the AlGaN barrier. The positive charge in the P-GaN layer has a built-in voltage, which is greater than the voltage generated by the piezoelectric effect, so it will deplete the electrons in the 2DEG, forming an enhancement structure. The enhanced P-gate structure GaN power device has the advantages of smaller internal parasitic parameters, better switching performance, and can realize the normally-off state. For GaN devices, single event effects caused by space radiation environment can cause permanent failure of the device, causing damage to the power supply and switching system of the space instrument. Most of the current research on single event effects of GaN devices uses heavy ions as the radiation source, but high-energy protons can also cause single event effects in devices. Protons are one of the main components of space radiation environment, accounting for up to 90%, and protons have high energy and high flux. Protons interact with device materials to produce non-direct effects and direct effects. Non-direct effects are single event effects caused by the interaction of protons with atomic nuclei (such as spallation reactions), and then indirectly ionized by reaction products. Direct effects are single event effects caused by direct ionization of protons in the sensitive region of the device. Studies have shown that even the most severe proton radiation (highest energy) produces direct effects in the device only as an occasional event. On the contrary, protons interact with atomic nuclei to produce recoil nuclei formed by heavy ion fragments or two ions with similar mass. These secondary ions can produce indirect effects, which are more likely to occur. GaN power devices will be continuously irradiated by protons during operation in space environment, which will continuously collide and ionize and accumulate charges, posing a risk of single event effects. For power devices, the size of the bias voltage is also an important factor in inducing device burnout. Therefore, it is necessary to study the safe working interval of GaN power devices under different bias voltages and high-energy proton irradiation conditions to produce single event burnout effects. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the present application is to provide a method for detecting the safe working interval of single event burnout effects of a gallium nitride power device, to solve the problem of how to determine the safe working interval of single event burnout effects of a gallium nitride power device under different bias voltages and different irradiation conditions.

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, according to some embodiments, the present application provides a method for detecting the safe working interval of single event burnout effects of a gallium nitride power device, comprising:

[0007] Under the rated voltage, detect the electrical performance of the device to be tested to obtain a first transfer characteristic curve;

[0008] Detect electrical performance of the device under test under preset bias voltage to obtain a second transfer characteristic curve, wherein a drain preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is greater than a drain rated voltage in the rated voltage;

[0009] Detect electrical performance of the device under test under the preset bias voltage and preset irradiation to obtain a third transfer characteristic curve;

[0010] Determine a non-irradiation safe voltage of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the second transfer characteristic curve;

[0011] Determine a safe working interval of single event burnout effect of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve and the non-irradiation safe voltage.

[0012] Further, the preset irradiation includes: the irradiation source is a single-energy proton beam, the proton energy is 25-100 MeV, the fluence rate is 3.38x10 8 p / (cm 2 ·s), and the fluence is 2x10 11 p / cm 2 .Since the gallium nitride power device detected in the application;

[0013] Further, the rated voltage is 50-100 V, the drain preset bias voltage is 600-650 V, and the gate preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is 0-15 V.

[0014] Further, the process of applying the preset bias voltage to the device under test includes:

[0015] Applying the rated voltage to the device under test; gradually increasing the rated voltage to the preset bias voltage.

[0016] Further, the determination of the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve and the non-irradiation safe voltage includes:

[0017] Determine a preset irradiation safe voltage of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the third transfer characteristic curve;

[0018] Determine a safe working interval of single event burnout effect of the device under test based on the preset irradiation safe voltage and the non-irradiation safe voltage.

[0019] Further, before the preset irradiation is performed, it includes:

[0020] Perform on-state bias condition evaluation on the device under test to determine the bias voltage of the device under test.

[0021] Further, the detecting the electrical performance of the device under test at the rated voltage is further used to ensure that the electrical performance of the device under test is normal.

[0022] Further, before detecting the electrical performance of the device under test at the preset bias voltage, the method further comprises:

[0023] connecting an oscilloscope to the test circuit, the oscilloscope being used to detect whether there is a transient pulse current in the test circuit:

[0024] If yes, turn off the irradiation source and the oscilloscope.

[0025] Further, the oscilloscope is connected in parallel with a resistor with a preset resistance value to prevent damage to the oscilloscope.

[0026] The above technical solutions of the present application have at least the following beneficial technical effects:

[0027] The present application determines the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device under test by comparing and analyzing the first transfer characteristic curve and the third transfer characteristic curve, and the irradiation-free safe voltage, and the safe working interval can be represented in the form of the drain voltage, the gate voltage and the preset irradiation proton energy of the device under test. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or in the prior art, the drawings needed in the embodiments will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, the drawings in the following description only represent some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort on the basis of these drawings.

[0029] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for detecting a safe working interval of a single event burnout effect of a gallium nitride power device in an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] Figure 2 is a detection circuit diagram in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 3 is a transfer characteristic curve before and after burnout after 100 MeV proton irradiation in an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] Figure 4 is a single event burnout transient pulse current of a gallium nitride power device in an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Figure 5 is a second transfer characteristic curve obtained at a preset voltage in an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] Fig. 6 is a third transfer characteristic curve of a GaN power device with an enhanced P-gate structure under irradiation of 25 MeV protons at different bias voltages, where (a) is a drain bias voltage, and (b) is a gate bias voltage.

[0035] Figure 7 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a safe operating region of a GaN power device with an enhanced P-gate structure according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] At present, there is a problem in the prior art of how to determine the safe operating region of single event burnout of a GaN power device under different bias voltages and different irradiation conditions.

[0037] To solve the above problem, as shown in Figure 1 An embodiment of the present application provides a method for detecting a safe operating region of single event burnout of a GaN power device, which comprises the following steps.

[0038] S1, detecting the electrical performance of a to-be-tested device under a rated voltage to obtain a first transfer characteristic curve;

[0039] S2, detecting the electrical performance of the to-be-tested device under a preset bias voltage to obtain a second transfer characteristic curve, wherein a drain preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is greater than a drain rated voltage in the rated voltage;

[0040] S3, detecting the electrical performance of the to-be-tested device under the preset bias voltage and a preset irradiation to obtain a third transfer characteristic curve;

[0041] S4, determining a no-irradiation safe voltage of the to-be-tested device based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the second transfer characteristic curve;

[0042] S5, determining a safe operating region of single event burnout of the to-be-tested device based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve, and the no-irradiation safe voltage.

[0043] In the embodiment, first, the electrical performance of the device under test at the rated voltage is detected, and a first transfer characteristic curve is obtained as the subsequent comparison basis data. The electrical performance of the device under test is detected under the preset bias voltage and in the non-irradiation condition; wherein the drain preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is greater than the drain rated voltage in the rated voltage, that is, the high voltage bearing capacity of the device under test is detected, and then the non-irradiation safe voltage of the device under test is determined based on the first transfer characteristic curve and a second transfer characteristic curve, that is, the voltage range of the device under test without burning under the preset bias voltage and in the non-irradiation condition is obtained. The electrical performance of the device under test is detected under the preset bias voltage and the preset irradiation, and a third transfer characteristic curve is obtained; wherein there are two forms of third transfer characteristic curves representing the burning and normal working of the device under test. Finally, by comparing and analyzing the first transfer characteristic curve and the third transfer characteristic curve, and the non-irradiation safe voltage, the safe working interval of the single-particle burnout effect of the device under test is determined, and the safe working interval can include: the drain voltage, the gate voltage and the preset irradiation of the device under test.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present application, in the S3 step, the preset irradiation includes: the irradiation source is a single-energy proton beam, the proton energy is 25-100 MeV, the fluence rate is 3.38x10 8 p / (cm 2 ·s), and the fluence is 2x10 11 p / cm 2 . Since the gallium nitride power device detected in the present application is mainly applied in the field of aerospace technology, the preset irradiation selects the high-energy proton beam with the same proton energy as that in space. In addition, the gallium nitride power device stays in space for a long time in actual space work. In order to make the detection process have the same fluence as the gallium nitride power device in space and shorten the time, the fluence rate is increased in the detection process.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present application, the rated voltage is 50-100 V; the drain preset bias voltage is 600-650 V; and the gate preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is 0-15 V. Further, the process of applying the preset bias voltage to the device under test includes: applying the rated voltage to the device under test; gradually increasing the rated voltage to the preset bias voltage.

[0046] In the embodiment, the device to be tested is a device with a rated voltage of 50-100 V, and the preset bias voltage of the drain of the device to be tested is 600-650 V; the preset bias voltage of the gate is 0-15 V. The rated voltage is applied to the device to be tested; the rated voltage gradually rises to the preset bias voltage, so as to avoid the device to be tested from being subjected to an initial voltage with an overshoot, thereby causing a large current fluctuation, misjudging the detection result, or directly damaging the device to be tested.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present application, in the step S5, the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device to be tested is determined based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve and the non-irradiation safe voltage, including: determining the preset irradiation safe voltage of the device to be tested based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the third transfer characteristic curve; determining the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device to be tested based on the preset irradiation safe voltage and the non-irradiation safe voltage.

[0048] In the embodiment, the first transfer characteristic curve and the third transfer characteristic curve are compared and analyzed to determine the range of the preset irradiation safe voltage, and then the preset irradiation safe voltage and the non-irradiation safe voltage are compared to determine the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device to be tested. In the prior art, the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device to be tested is usually determined directly by the range of the preset irradiation safe voltage or by irradiation detection under the non-irradiation safe voltage, which ignores the possibility that the preset irradiation safe voltage is higher than the non-irradiation safe voltage. Whether this situation exists in new gallium nitride power devices now or in the future and the impact of this situation on the device to be tested in actual service can be determined only by detection. Therefore, the preset irradiation safe voltage and the non-irradiation safe voltage are determined respectively, and then the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device to be tested is determined based on the preset irradiation safe voltage and the non-irradiation safe voltage.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present application, before the preset irradiation, the device to be tested is subjected to an open-state bias condition evaluation to determine the bias voltage of the device to be tested.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present application, the detection of the electrical performance of the device to be tested under the rated voltage is also used to ensure that the electrical performance of the device to be tested is normal. In the embodiment, the electrical performance of the device to be tested is detected under the rated voltage, and then the same batch of devices to be tested with normal and consistent electrical performance are screened out as sample devices for subsequent detection according to the device manual corresponding to the device to be tested. Preferably, the devices to be tested that pass the test are grouped and numbered.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, before detecting the electrical performance of the device under test at a preset bias voltage, the oscilloscope is connected to the test circuit, which is used to detect whether there is a transient pulse current in the test circuit; if yes, the irradiation source and the oscilloscope are turned off. In this embodiment, if there is a transient pulse current in the oscilloscope, it indicates that the device under test has a single event burnout effect, and then the irradiation source and the oscilloscope are turned off and the record is saved.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present application, the oscilloscope is connected in parallel with a resistor of a preset resistance value to prevent damage to the oscilloscope. Since the bias voltage applied to the device under test is high and there is a transient pulse current, the oscilloscope is connected in parallel with a resistor of a preset resistance value to prevent damage to the oscilloscope.

[0053] Specifically, the present application further illustrates the above method by experiments:

[0054] S1, detecting the electrical performance of the device under test at a rated voltage to obtain a first transfer characteristic curve:

[0055] A plurality of enhancement P-gate structure gallium nitride power devices are selected as the device under test, and the electrical performance before irradiation is tested to obtain first transfer characteristic data.

[0056] According to the selected sample device manual, the corresponding parameters are set in the semiconductor parameter analyzer. The gate-source voltage measurement first sets the determinant drain voltage to 100 mV, the gate-source voltage range is between 0-15V, and the saturated drain current range is between 0-1A. It is ensured that the performance of the device under test is normal and has high consistency, and the device under test that passes the test is grouped and numbered. In the experiment, 16 enhancement P-gate structure gallium nitride power devices are selected, and the structure of the device under test is as shown in Figure 1 The first transfer characteristic data obtained is grouped and numbered.

[0057] As shown in Figure 2 , a detection circuit is built: a bias voltage is applied to the corresponding device under test, which is connected to the detection circuit of Figure 2 . In the experiment, a high-voltage DC power supply is used to apply a drain bias voltage to the GaN power device. The high-voltage source can be controlled by a computer to ensure the safety of the operation; since the minimum output voltage of the high-voltage power supply is 10V, a low-voltage power supply is needed to apply a bias voltage to the gate in the experiment. The oscilloscope can monitor in real time whether there is a transient pulse current to judge whether there is a single event burnout effect. The oscilloscope is connected in parallel with a resistor of a preset resistance value, and the preset resistance value is 1Ω in this experiment to ensure that the oscilloscope will not be damaged by too high voltage; the table meter can monitor the current change in real time.

[0058] Detecting the electrical performance of the device under test at the preset bias voltage to obtain a second transfer characteristic curve:

[0059] In the device under test with normal electrical performance, 4 are randomly selected and connected into the detection circuit. In order to prevent the influence of overshoot initial voltage, first, the device under test is applied with 100V voltage, and each time is increased by 100V, until it is increased to 650V, 637.5V, 625V, 600V, and kept on for 12 minutes (the irradiation time is about 10 minutes by calculation). And test and record the second transfer characteristic curve data.

[0060] S2, evaluating the on-state bias condition of the device under test to determine the bias voltage of the device under test:

[0061] In order to determine the on-state bias voltage, the current in the on-state is evaluated before the irradiation experiment. The low-voltage source is used to apply 6V, 5V and 2V voltage to the gate of the device, and the source and drain are grounded. When the gate voltage is 6V, the gate current is 82mA, when the gate voltage is 5V, the gate current is 31mA, and when the gate voltage is 2V, the gate current is 30.2mA. When there is no on-state bias condition, the current of the device under test is almost 0, so the above bias condition can be used as the on-state bias condition.

[0062] S3, detecting the electrical performance of the device under test at the preset bias voltage and preset irradiation to obtain a third transfer characteristic curve;

[0063] The device is used to extract 25MeV and 100MeV quasi-monochromatic proton beam. The sample is fixed on the irradiation plate, which is fixed on the XYZ precision moving platform. The laser collimator is used to ensure that the center of the target chamber is at the center of the sensitive part of the device, and the irradiation range is 1X1cm. During the irradiation process, the fluence rate is about 3.38x10 8 p / (cm 2 s), and when the burnout does not occur, the fluence reaches 2x10 11 p / cm 2 , the irradiation is stopped. First, the 100MeV proton experiment is carried out, the high-voltage power supply is used to apply a bias voltage of 650V to the No. 6 device, and when the fluence reaches 1.38x10 11 p / cm 2 , the single event burnout effect occurs, the oscilloscope appears a large pulse current, the digital multimeter monitors the current jump, the beam is immediately turned off, and the oscilloscope and the benchtop multimeter are stopped recording, the bias voltage is set to zero, and the experimental conditions are recorded. The bias voltage is set to 600V and applied to the No. 7 device, and when the proton fluence reaches 2x10 11 p / cm 2At that time, the oscilloscope showed no pulse current, the digital multimeter current showed no large fluctuations, and no single-event burn-out occurred. Using the binary search method, the next bias voltage was calculated to be 625V. When applied to device number 8, the proton fluence reached 2 × 10⁻⁶. 11 p / cm 2 No single-event burn-in occurred. Using the bisection method again, the next bias voltage calculated to be 637.5V was applied to device 9, achieving a proton fluence of 2 × 10⁻⁶. 11 p / cm 2 No single-particle burn-out occurred. After the high-voltage experiment was completed, the high-voltage power supply was replaced with a low-voltage DC power supply, and voltages of 6V, 5V, 2V, and 0V were applied to devices 10-13 respectively, at a proton fluence of 2×10⁻⁶. 11 p / cm 2 In all cases, single-particle burn-out occurred. The third transfer characteristic curve data were tested and recorded after the irradiation test.

[0064] S4. Based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the second transfer characteristic curve, determine the radiation-free safety voltage of the device under test;

[0065] S5. Based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve, and the radiation-free safety voltage, determine the safe operating range of the single-event burn-out effect of the device under test. The safe operating range is as follows: Figure 7 As shown.

[0066] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative or explanatory of the principles of the invention and do not constitute a limitation thereof. Therefore, any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention should be included within the protection scope of the invention. Furthermore, the appended claims are intended to cover all variations and modifications falling within the scope and boundaries of the appended claims, or equivalent forms of such scope and boundaries.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a safe operating region of single event burnout effect of a gallium nitride power device, characterized in that, The method comprises the following steps: detecting electrical performance of a device under test at a rated voltage to obtain a first transfer characteristic curve; detecting electrical performance of the device under test at a preset bias voltage to obtain a second transfer characteristic curve, wherein a drain preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is greater than a drain rated voltage in the rated voltage; detecting electrical performance of the device under test at the preset bias voltage and a preset irradiation to obtain a third transfer characteristic curve; determining a non-irradiation safe voltage of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the second transfer characteristic curve; determining a safe working interval of a single event burnout effect of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve and the non-irradiation safe voltage. The preset irradiation includes: the irradiation source is a single-energy proton beam, the proton energy is 25-100 MeV, the fluence rate is 3.38x10 8 p / (cm 2 ·s), and the fluence is 2x10 11 p / cm 2 . The rated voltage is 50-100 V, the drain preset bias voltage is 600-650 V, and a gate preset bias voltage in the preset bias voltage is 0-15 V.

2. The detection method according to claim 1, characterized in that The process of applying the preset bias voltage to the device under test comprises: applying the rated voltage to the device under test, and gradually increasing the rated voltage to the preset bias voltage.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein The determination of the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve, the third transfer characteristic curve and the non-irradiation safe voltage comprises: determining a preset irradiation safe voltage of the device under test based on the first transfer characteristic curve and the third transfer characteristic curve; determining the safe working interval of the single event burnout effect of the device under test based on the preset irradiation safe voltage and the non-irradiation safe voltage.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, Before the preset irradiation, the method comprises: performing an open-state bias condition evaluation on the device under test to determine a bias voltage of the device under test.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The detection of the electrical performance of the device under test at the rated voltage is also used to ensure that the electrical performance of the device under test is normal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, Before the detection of the electrical performance of the device under test at the preset bias voltage, the method comprises: connecting an oscilloscope to a test circuit, wherein the oscilloscope is used to detect whether there is a transient pulse current in the test circuit: if yes, turn off an irradiation source and the oscilloscope.

7. The detection method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The oscilloscope is connected in parallel with a resistance of a preset resistance value to prevent damage to the oscilloscope.

Images