A semiconductor device includes a main element and a sense element. Each of the main element and the sense element includes a drift layer, a base layer, an emitter region, a gate insulation film, a gate electrode, and a rear surface layer. The base layer is on the drift layer. The emitter region is at a surface layer portion of the base layer. The gate insulation film is disposed at a surface of the base layer between the emitter region and the drift layer. The gate electrode is on the gate insulation film. The rear surface layer faces the base layer with the drift layer between the rear surface layer and the base layer. The rear surface layer in the main element includes a collector layer. The rear surface layer in the sense element includes a low-impurity layer having smaller amount of impurities than the collector layer.

Provided is a semiconductor device including: a semiconductor substrate provided with an active portion and an edge termination structure portion surrounding the active portion; an interlayer dielectric film provided above the semiconductor substrate; a protective film provided above the interlayer dielectric film; and a protruding portion provided farther from the active portion than the edge termination structure portion and protruding further than the interlayer dielectric film. The protruding portion is not covered with the protective film. The protective film is provided closer to the active portion than the protruding portion.

A Field Effect Transistor (FET) may include a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type, a semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type formed over the substrate, and a pair of doped bodies of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type formed in the semiconductor layer. A trench filled with a trench dielectric is formed within a region between the doped bodies. The FET may be a Vertical Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor FET (VMOSFET) including a gate dielectric disposed over the region between the doped bodies and the trench, and a gate electrode disposed over the gate dielectric, wherein the trench operates to prevent breakdown of the gate dielectric, or the FET may be a Junction FET. The FET may be designed to operate at radio frequencies or under heavy-ion bombardment. The semiconductor substrate and the semiconductor layer may comprise a wide band-gap semiconductor such as silicon carbide.

Provided is a semiconductor device including: a semiconductor substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface and having a drift region of a first conductivity type; a first main terminal provided above the upper surface; a second main terminal provided below the lower surface; a control terminal configured to control whether or not to cause a current to flow between the first main terminal and the second main terminal; and a buffer region provided between the drift region and the lower surface and having a higher doping concentration than the drift region. In a C-V characteristic indicating a relationship between a power supply voltage applied between the first main terminal and the second main terminal and an inter-terminal capacitance between the control terminal and the second main terminal, a region where the power supply voltage is 500 V or more has a peak of the inter-terminal capacitance.

A reliability of a semiconductor device is ensured, and performance of the device is improved. A semiconductor device including a region 1A and a region 2A includes an n-type semiconductor substrate TS having a front surface BS1, BS2 and a back surface SUB, a IGBT formed on a semiconductor substrate in a region 1A, and a diode formed on the semiconductor substrate SUB in a region 2A. And a thickness T1 of the semiconductor substrate SUB in the region 1A is smaller than a thickness of the semiconductor substrate T2 in the region 2A.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor part, a first electrode at a back surface of the semiconductor part; a second electrode at a front surface of the semiconductor part; third and fourth electrodes provided between the semiconductor part and the second electrode. The third and fourth electrodes are arranged in a first direction along the front surface of the semiconductor part. The third electrode is electrically insulated from the semiconductor part by a first insulating film. The third electrode is electrically insulated from the second electrode by a second insulating film. The fourth electrode is electrically insulated from the semiconductor part by a third insulating film. The fourth electrode is electrically isolated from the third electrode. the third and fourth electrodes extend into the semiconductor part. The fourth electrode includes a material having a larger thermal conductivity than a thermal conductivity of a material of the third electrode.

A semiconductor device includes first and second electrodes, a semiconductor part therebetween, and a control electrode between the semiconductor part and the first electrode. The semiconductor part includes first, third and fifth layers of a first conductivity type and second and fourth layers of a second conductivity type. The second layer is provided between the first layer and the first electrode. The third layer is provided between the second layer and the first electrode. The fourth layer and the fifth layer are selectively provided between the first layer and the second electrode. In a method for controlling the semiconductor device, first to third voltages are applied in order to the control electrode while a p-n junction between the first and second layers is biased in a forward direction. The second and third voltages are greater than the first voltage, and the third voltage is less than the second voltage.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer structure of a wide band-gap semiconductor material. The semiconductor layer structure includes a drift region having a first conductivity type and a well region having a second conductivity type. A plurality of segmented gate trenches extend in a first direction in the semiconductor layer structure. The segmented gate trenches include respective gate trench segments that are spaced apart from each other in the first direction with intervening regions of the semiconductor layer structure therebetween. Related devices and fabrication methods are also discussed.

Semiconductor devices and methods of forming the devices are provided. Semiconductor devices include a semiconductor layer structure comprising a trench in an upper surface thereof, a dielectric layer in a lower portion of the trench, and a gate electrode in the trench and on the dielectric layer opposite the semiconductor layer structure. The trench may include rounded upper corner and a rounded lower corner. A center portion of a top surface of the dielectric layer may be curved, and the dielectric layer may be on opposed sidewalls of the trench. The dielectric layer may include a bottom dielectric layer on a bottom surface of the trench and on lower portions of the sidewalls of the trench and a gate dielectric layer on upper portions of the sidewalls of the trench and on the bottom dielectric layer.

This application provides an insulated gate bipolar transistor, a motor control unit, and a vehicle. The insulated gate bipolar transistor includes three device structure feature layers that are laminated. An IGBT device structure feature layer (10) and an RC-IGBT device structure feature layer (30) are respectively arranged on two sides of an SJ device structure feature layer (20). The RC-IGBT device structure feature layer (30) includes a collector (12) and a drain (13) that are disposed at a same layer. The insulated gate bipolar transistor further includes a first metal electrode (15) laminated with and electrically connected to the collector (12), and a second metal electrode (14) laminated with and electrically connected to the drain (13), and the first metal electrode (15) is electrically isolated from the second metal electrode (14).