One-directional normally-on vertical silicon carbide (3C-SiC) MESFET on silicon (Si) substrate

The main objective of this thesis is to design a one-directional normally-on vertical 3C-SiC MESFET on silicon substrate. The 3C-SiC material has higher carrier mobility, high saturation velocity and high critical breakdown field compared to traditional silicon devices. Epitaxial layer of 3C-SiC can be easily grown on the large area of silicon wafer. Vertical MESFET occupies less than 33% of the area compared to lateral MESFET with same dimensions, and this increases the integration density and reduces the cost. The drain current of vertical 3C-SiC MESFET is 100% higher than lateral structure MESFET with same dimensions. Vertical 3C-SiC MESFETs can be easily connected in parallel in order to get higher currents and can be easily cooled, since the junctions are exposed.;This work involves the study of electrical and thermal characteristics of the device. Electrical characteristics of the device are investigated using Silvaco Atlas software. Thermal nature of the device is studied using COMSOL Multiphysics. Numerical calculations were done in MATHCAD. The device breakdown voltage was simulated at gate voltage of 0V and found to be more than 600V. The drain current reached 600mA/mm, with a critical breakdown electric field of 3.9x106 V/cm.