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M.A. Shibib |
The Power Devices & ICs Technical Committee is composed of 18 members, 10 from academia and research institutes and 8 from industry. The focus of the Committee is on recent developments and trends in the discrete and IC power semiconductors.
The main functions of the Committee are:
In its December 1999 report, the Committee presented the following hot areas:
Person portable electronics demand high performance, small size and extended battery life. Thus the need for low on-state voltage drop, low power loss and low voltages (less than 60 v). Most recently reported results for specific-on-resistance and voltage level are:
| Voltage | Specific-On-Resistance | Device |
| 7 V | 4.3 mWmm2 | n-channel Lateral DMOS |
| 25 V | 3 mWmm2 | n-channel Trench DMOS |
| 30 V | 26 mWmm2 | n-channel Trench DMOS |
| 12 V | 21 mWmm2 | p-channel Trench DMOS |
Thick copper layers on lateral DMOSs are used to reduce the debiasing effect the width of the device, and to increase the energy capability. Many studies were reported to understand the safe-operating-area (SOA) of the Lateral DMOS.
The R&D focus is on the "Charge Compensation Principle" which broke the silicon limit of specific-on-resistance versus breakdown voltage. Last year, a 600 volt DMOS device was reported with a factor of 5 reduction in on-resistance using multiple implants and epitaxial depositions. Other approaches considered are: trench etch and refill, trench etch with sidewall implant or neutron transmutation doping.
RF Lateral DMOS (LDMOS) is replacing RF bipolar and GaAs devices in wireless base station applications, and the trend is to integrate the electronics for wireless hand sets. An integrated power amplifier in thin-film silicon-on-insulator (SOI) was demonstrated. A SiC MESFET with a 5.6 W/mm gate width was reported at frequencies up to 3 GHz and power up to 120 watts.
A 600 volt motor driver IC using self-isolation without epitaxial layers was reported, and at least four companies reported development of high voltage driver ICs for plasma display panels using SOI substrates.
An 1800 V 6H-SiC MOSFET with a specific-on-resistance of 82 mW.cm2 was reported compared to a 1400 V device with 15.7 mW.cm2 reported last year. Also observed is the trend of coupling SiC diodes and JFETS to silicon IGBTs and MOSFETs.
An 8000 V light triggered thyristor for high voltage DC transmission was reported and
is used in converter station.
The Technical Committee noted the publications of two books in the field in 1999, these
are:
Journal coverage of the field is well represented in: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, IEEE Electron Devices Letters, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics and other journals.
Conference coverage of the field is best represented by the IEEE EDS sponsored International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices & ICs (ISPSD), held annually with the site rotating between North America, Europe and Japan.
The Power Devices and ICs Technical Committee is sponsoring a workshop on "Power Semiconductor Technology Roadmap" in conjunction with ISPSD'01 to be held in Osaka, Japan, June 4-7, 2001.
The Committee is maintaining a web site that can be reached at: http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/eds/groups.html
For further information on the Technical Committee's activities, please contact: M. Ayman Shibib, IEEE EDS Power Devices & ICs Technical Committee Chairman, Lucent Technologies, 2525 N. 12th St., P.O.Box 13396, Reading, Pa. 19612-3396, U.S.A. TEL: 610-939-6576, FAX. : 610-939-3769, E-Mail: a.shibib@ieee.org.
M. Ayman Shibib
Lucent Technologies Inc.
Reading, PA