Numerical study on very high speed silicon PiN diode possibility for power ICs in comparison with SiC-SBD

600 V PiN diodes reverse recovery speed have been a bottle neck in reduction of system losses. In some applications such as PFC (Power Factor Control) SiC-SBDs have been replacing PiN diodes in recent years. The high speed reverse recovery characteristics of SiC-SBDs have contributed to the PFC downsizing and the efficiency improvement, only limited number of the diodes has been installed due to the high cost and the difficulty in implementation into power integrated circuits (Power ICs). In this work we have tried to find out possibilities to improve the PiN diodes capabilities in high speed applications based on analytical model, 1D and 2D-device simulation as our research tools. It is found that the reverse recovery can be improved by injection efficiency control with shallow P-/N-emitter. Simulated SOI structure shows the possibility to attain high speed characteristics comparable to SiC-SBDs.