Semiconductor power devices with alternating conductivity type high-voltage breakdown regions

A semiconductor power device comprising:

• a first contact layer of a first conductivity type;
• a second contact layer of a second conductivity type;
• and
• a voltage sustaining layer between said first and second contact layers, said voltage sustaining layer comprising first semiconductor regions of the first conductivity type and second semiconductor regions of a second conductivity type, said first and second semiconductor regions being alternately arranged, the first contact layer contacting all said first semiconductor regions and said second semiconductor regions to form a first interface, the second contact layer contacting with all the first and second semiconductor regions to form a second interface wherein the first and second semiconductor regions are doped with dopants and the effective dopant distribution in every region in the voltage sustaining region is non-uniform, the dopant concentration in the first semiconductor regions is greater near the first contact layer than near the second contact layer and the dopant concentration in the second semiconductor regions is greater near the second contact layer than near the first contact layer.

A semiconductor power device comprising:

• a first contact layer of a first conductivity type;
• a second contact layer of a second conductivity type;
• and
• a voltage sustaining layer between said first and second contact layers, said voltage sustaining layer comprising first semiconductor regions of the first conductivity type and second semiconductor regions of a second conductivity type which are alternately arranged, the first contact layer contacting all said first semiconductor regions and said second semiconductor regions to form a first interface, the second contact layer contacting with all the first and second semiconductor regions directly to form a second interface wherein said first and second interface are parallel to each other and wherein the first and second semiconductor regions are shaped in a manner that in a cross-section of the voltage sustaining layer parallel to the first and second interface, one of the first semiconductor regions and one of the second semiconductor regions form a close packed hexagonal unit, the first semiconductor region is within a circle about the center of the close-packed hexagonal unit and one of said second semiconductor regions is outside the circle.

A semiconductor power device comprising:

• a first contact layer of a first conductivity type;
• a second contact layer of a second conductivity type;
• and
• a voltage sustaining layer between said first and second contact layers, said voltage sustaining layer comprising first semiconductor regions of the first conductivity type and second semiconductor regions of a second conductivity type, said first and second semiconductor regions being alternately arranged, the first contact layer contacting said first semiconductor regions and said second semiconductor regions to form a first interface, the second contact layer contacting with all the first and second semiconductor regions directly to form a second interface wherein said first and second interface are parallel to each other and wherein the first and second semiconductor regions are shaped in a manner that in a cross-section of the voltage sustaining layer parallel to the first and second interface, the first and second semiconductor regions are square-shaped and form a mosaic pattern.