There is disclosed a structure in a wide band gap material such as silicon carbide wherein there is a buried grid and shields covering at least one middle point between two adjacent parts of the buried grid, when viewed from above. Advantages of the invention include easy manufacture without extra lithographic steps compared with standard manufacturing process, an improved trade-off between the current conduction and voltage blocking characteristics of a JBSD comprising the structure.

A method of manufacturing a metal silicide layer comprises performing laser thermal annealing of a surface region of a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate, exposing a surface of a thus obtained silicon layer, depositing a metal layer above the exposed silicon layer, and/or thermally treating a stack of layers, comprising the silicon layer and the metal layer, to form a metal silicide layer. Alternatively and/or additionally, the method may comprise depositing a silicon layer above a SiC substrate, depositing a metal layer, and/or performing laser thermal annealing of the SiC substrate and a stack of layers above the SiC substrate to form a metal silicide layer, wherein the stack of layers comprises the silicon layer and the metal layer. Moreover, a semiconductor device is described, comprising a SiC substrate, a metal silicide layer, and a polycrystalline layer in direct contact with the SiC substrate and the metal silicide layer.

A manufacturing method of an electronic device includes: forming a drift layer of an N type; forming a trench in the drift layer; forming an edge-termination structure alongside the trench by implanting dopant species of a P type; and forming a depression region between the trench and the edge-termination structure by digging the drift layer. The steps of forming the depression region and the trench are carried out at the same time. The step of forming the depression region comprises patterning the drift layer to form a structural connection with the edge-termination structure having a first slope, and the step of forming the trench comprises etching the drift layer to define side walls of the trench, which have a second slope steeper than the first slope.

A metal layer is deposited on a wafer that has silicon carbide, wherein the metal layer forms a contact face. A laser annealing is performed at the contact face using a laser beam application that causes the metal layer to react with the wafer and form a silicide layer. The laser beam has a footprint having a size. To laser anneal the contact face, a first portion of the contact face is irradiated, the footprint of the laser beam is moved by a step smaller than the size of the footprint, and a second portion of the contact face is irradiated, thereby causing the first portion and the second portion of the contact face to overlap.

A silicon carbide semiconductor device is a SiC-SBD that has, in an active region, at a front surface of a semiconductor substrate containing silicon carbide, a mixture of a SBD structure having Schottky barrier junctions between a titanium film that is a lowermost layer of a front electrode and an n.sup.−-type drift region, and a JBS structure having pn junction portions between p-type regions and the n.sup.−-type drift region. The p-type regions form ohmic junctions with the titanium film that is the lowermost layer of the front electrode. After an ion implantation for the p-type regions, activation annealing is performed at a temperature in a range of 1700 degrees C. to 1900 degrees C. for a treatment time exceeding 20 minutes, whereby contact resistance between the titanium film and the p-type regions is adjusted to be in a range of about 5×10.sup.−4 Ω.Math.cm.sup.2 to 8×10.sup.−3 Ω.Math.cm.sup.2.

According to an embodiment, provided is a semiconductor device including: a first electrode; a second electrode; and a silicon carbide layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, the silicon carbide layer including: a first silicon carbide region of an n-type; and a second silicon carbide region disposed between the first silicon carbide region and the first electrode, the second silicon carbide being in contact with the first electrode, and the second silicon carbide containing one oxygen atom bonding with four silicon atoms.

A method forms a part of a power semiconductor device. The method includes homoepitaxially forming two silicon carbide layers on a first side of a silicon carbide substrate and forming a pattern of pits on a second side of the silicon carbide substrate. The two layers include a buffer layer, on the first side of the silicon carbide substrate, and have a same doping type of the silicon carbide substrate and a doping concentration equal to or greater than 10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 in order to increase the quality of at least one subsequent SiC layer. The two layers include an etch stopper layer, being deposited on the buffer layer and has a same doping type as the buffer layer but a lower doping concentration in order to block a trenching process. The pattern of pits, obtained by electrochemical etching, extends completely thorough the silicon carbide substrate and the buffer layer.

A semiconductor device having, in a plan view thereof, an active region and a termination region that surrounds a periphery of the active region. The device includes a semiconductor substrate containing a wide bandgap semiconductor, a first-conductivity-type region provided in the semiconductor substrate, spanning from the active region to the termination region, a plurality of second-conductivity-type regions provided between the first-conductivity-type region and the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the active region, a first electrode provided on a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to the second-conductivity-type regions, a second electrode provided on the second main surface of the semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to the first-conductivity-type region, and a lifetime killer region provided in the first-conductivity-type region and spanning from the active region to the termination region. In the active region, pn junctions between the first-conductivity-type region and the second-conductivity-type regions form a vertical semiconductor device element.

An SBD of a JBS structure has on a front side of a semiconductor substrate, nickel silicide films in ohmic contact with p-type regions and a FLR, and a titanium film forming a Schottky junction with an n.sup.−-type drift region. A thickness of each of the nickel silicide films is in a range from 300 nm to 700 nm. The nickel silicide films each has a first portion protruding from the front surface of the semiconductor substrate in a direction away from the front surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a second portion protruding in the semiconductor substrate from the front surface of the semiconductor substrate in a depth direction. A thickness of the first portion is equal to a thickness of the second portion. A width of the second portion is wider than a width of the first portion.

An anti-fuse having two electrical connections is constructed by adding at least one zener diode and resistor to a power MOSFET. When the voltage across the two electrical connections exceeds the zener diode voltage and the maximum gate voltage of the MOSFET, the MOSFET burns out. This shorts out the device which can be used to bypass an LED or other load when that load burns out and forms an open circuit.