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US 2026/0164838 A1Published application
SiC UV PHOTODETECTOR
AssigneeBAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.
InventorsAmrita V. Masurkar, Isaac Wildeson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photodetector, made from a silicon carbide semiconductor, comprising a photodiode portion and a junction field-effect transistor (JFET) portion, integrated into a single chip, the JFET portion having a lateral architecture enabled through fabrication using only implantation-based doping processes in a manufacturing process where a photodiode and a JFET are manufactured simultaneously using the same manufacturing process.
Claims21
A photodetector, comprising:
- at least one photodetector structure, disposed on a substrate, said photodetector structure comprising:
- an unintentionally-doped silicon carbide high-resistivity epitaxial layer disposed over the substrate;
- at least one heavily-doped n-type cathode region formed in the high-resistivity epitaxial layer;
- at least one heavily-doped p-type anode region formed in the high-resistivity epitaxial layer;
- at least one photosensitive region, of the high-resistivity epitaxial layer, interposed between the anode region and the cathode region in the high-resistivity epitaxial layer;
- an insulating layer formed over at least a portion of the substrate, with windows to allow access to the cathode region and to the anode region, and configured to enable UV radiation to be incident onto the photosensitive region;
- and
- silicide contacts in contact with the cathode region and the anode region;
- wherein
- the anode region, the cathode region, and the photosensitive region are formed in the high-resistivity epitaxial layer in a lateral configuration.
7 more elements
A method for manufacturing a photodetector, comprising:
- growing a high-resistivity epitaxial layer over a substrate of a SiC epi-compatible material;
- forming an anode-forming hard mask layer over the high-resistivity epitaxial layer and patterning the anode-forming hard mask layer to form a window over an area for heavy ion implantation of a p-type dopant for forming an anode of a photodiode;
- performing heavy heated ion implantation of the p-type dopant and removing the anode-forming hard mask layer;
- forming a cathode-forming hard mask layer over the high-resistivity epitaxial layer and patterning the cathode-forming hard mask layer to form a window over an area for heavy ion implantation of an n-type dopant for forming a cathode of the photodiode;
- performing heavy heated ion implantation of the n-type dopant;
- and removing the cathode-forming hard mask layer;
- cleaning the surface of the substrate;
- depositing an anneal cap of a thermally stable material to prevent step-bunching, annealing the anneal cap, and removing the anneal cap;
- and
- forming a contact-forming hard mask layer over the high-resistivity epitaxial layer, patterning the contact-forming hard mask layer to form a window over a contact-forming area of a region into which ions have been implanted, depositing a film of a metal for forming an ohmic contact layer, annealing,
- silicidizing the ohmic contact layer, and
- removing any residual unreacted metal.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.