Extraction of the 4H-SiC/SiO2 Barrier Height Over Temperature

The behavior of the barrier height of the SiC/SiO
₂
interface has been investigated over a wide temperature range, from 173 K to 523 K. These data complement the literature, providing a better knowledge of this parameter, which was studied only over a more restricted temperature range, and never before for low temperatures. It is highlighted that the measured samples exhibit a barrier height temperature dependence very near to the theoretical one (≈-0.7 meVK
^-1
). Beyond 473 K, the barrier height seems to drop faster for some samples, reaching ≈-1.4 meVK
^-1
. If this faster decreasing rate is maintained for higher temperatures, it could limit 4H-SiC MOSFETs performances or reliability for high-temperature applications. It is expected that the data provided here will allow for more accurate modeling of the gate current and the charge injection in the oxide layer of power MOSFETs, leading to more reliable predictions of the oxide lifetime for 4H-SiC MOSFETs.