Double-Epilayer Structure for Low Drain Voltage Rating n-Channel Power Trench MOSFET Devices

Double-epilayer structures were studied for n-channel low-voltage power trench MOSFET devices with drain-to-source voltage (V
_ds
) of 20 V, and various device performance improvements have been observed. The threshold voltage variation (sigma
_Vth
) can be reduced by increasing the intrinsic epilayer thickness. A 9% effective electron mobility mu
_n
improvement has been observed and is attributed to the reduced background phosphorus scattering. A Q
_gd
of 3.1 nC for double- epilayer structure is observed which is about 30% lower than the 4.5 nC for the single-epilayer structure. This improved Qgd is due to both an increasing depletion width at the bottom of the trench and the well junction moving toward the trench bottom for the double-epilayer structure. The dependence of Qgd on the double-epilayer structure (intrinsic epilayer thickness and the doped epilayer resistivity) is found following the power law Q
_gd
prop alphaX
^-b
, where a and b are double-epilayer structure dependent. Compared to the single-epilayer structure, a double- epilayer structure can handle larger reverse current, suggesting a smaller basis resistance (R
_bb'
) for the double-epilayer structure. This improvement ranges from 7% to 24% depending on the die pitch. A 20% less temperature dependence of device on-resistance for the double-epilayer structure has also been observed. This enables a large forward current capability, although the mechanism is not well understood.