A silicon carbide device includes: a transistor cell having a stripe-shaped trench gate structure extending from a first surface into a silicon carbide body, the gate structure having a gate length along a lateral first direction, a bottom surface and a first gate sidewall of the gate structure being connected via a first bottom edge of the gate structure; at least one source region of a first conductivity type in contact with the first gate sidewall; and a shielding region of a second conductivity type in contact with the first bottom edge of the gate structure across at least 20% of the gate length. No source regions of the first conductivity type are in contact with a second gate sidewall of the gate structure.

A device that increases a value of current flowing through a whole chip until a p-n diode in a unit cell close to a termination operates and reduces a size of the chip and a cost of the chip resulting from the reduced size. The device includes a second well region located to sandwich the entirety of a plurality of first well regions therein in plan view, a third separation region located to penetrate the second well region from a surface layer of the second well region in a depth direction, and a second Schottky electrode provided on the third separation region.

A semiconductor device includes a gate pad, a first source pad and a second source pad insulated from each other, a drain pad, a main region, and a sense region for detecting a forward current and a reverse current. The main region and the sense region each include a plurality of unit cells which are in parallel connection, the number of unit cells in the sense region being smaller than the number of unit cells in the main region. A source electrode of any unit cell in the main region is connected to the first source pad, and a source electrode of any unit cell in the sense region is connected to the second source pad.

A vertical power semiconductor device includes a silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor body having opposite first and second surfaces. The SiC semiconductor body includes a transistor cell area including gate structures, a gate pad area, and an interconnection area electrically coupling a gate electrode of the gate structures and a gate pad of the gate pad area via a gate interconnection. The vertical power semiconductor device further includes a sensor electrode and a first interlayer dielectric having a first interface to the sensor electrode and a second interface to at least one of the gate electrode or the gate interconnection. A conduction band offset at the first interface ranges from 1 eV to 2.5 eV. The vertical power semiconductor device further includes a second interface to at least one of the gate electrode or the gate interconnection. The second interlayer dielectric laterally adjoins to the first interlayer dielectric.

A SiC semiconductor device is provided that is capable of improving the detection accuracy of the current value of a principal current detected by a current sensing portion by restraining heat from escaping from the current sensing portion to a wiring member joined to a sensing-side surface electrode. The semiconductor device 1 includes a SiC semiconductor substrate, a source portion 27 including a principal-current-side unit cell 34, a current sensing portion 26 including a sensing-side unit cell 40, a source-side surface electrode 5 disposed above the source portion 27, and a sensing-side surface electrode 6 that is disposed above the current sensing portion 26 and that has a sensing-side pad 15 to which a sensing-side wire is joined, and, in the semiconductor device 1, the sensing-side unit cell 40 is disposed so as to avoid being positioned directly under the sensing-side pad 15.

A performance of a semiconductor device including a main MOSFET and a sensing MOSFET having a double-gate structure including a gate electrode and a field plate electrode inside a trench is improved. A main MOSFET including a gate electrode and a field plate electrode inside a second trench and a sensing MOSFET for electric-current detection including a gate electrode and a field plate electrode inside a fourth trench are surrounded by different termination rings, respectively.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having an active region in which a main switching element structure is formed, a current sense region in which a sense switching element structure is formed, and a peripheral region located around the active region and the current sense region. The semiconductor substrate is a 4H-SiC substrate having an off angle in a <11-20> direction. The current sense region is disposed in a range where the active region is not present when viewed along the <1-100> direction.

The object of a silicon carbide semiconductor device according to the present disclosure is to prevent fluctuations in threshold voltage and prevent cracks in a barrier metal. A silicon carbide semiconductor device includes: a silicon carbide substrate; a semiconductor layer formed on the silicon carbide substrate; a gate electrode facing the semiconductor layer through a gate insulating film; an interlayer insulating film covering the gate electrode; a barrier metal formed on the interlayer insulating film; and a top electrode covering the barrier metal, wherein the barrier metal has a two-layer structure of a barrier metal and a barrier metal, and the barrier metal closer to the interlayer insulating film is made of a same metallic material as the barrier metal, the barrier metal being thinner than the barrier metal.

A SiC semiconductor device is provided that is capable of improving the detection accuracy of the current value of a principal current detected by a current sensing portion by restraining heat from escaping from the current sensing portion to a wiring member joined to a sensing-side surface electrode. The semiconductor device includes a SiC semiconductor substrate, a source portion including a principal-current-side unit cell, a current sensing portion including a sensing-side unit cell, a source-side surface electrode disposed above the source portion, and a sensing-side surface electrode that is disposed above the current sensing portion and that has a sensing-side pad to which a sensing-side wire is joined, and, in the semiconductor device, the sensing-side unit cell is disposed so as to avoid being positioned directly under the sensing-side pad.

The object of a silicon carbide semiconductor device according to the present disclosure is to prevent fluctuations in threshold voltage and prevent cracks in a barrier metal. A silicon carbide semiconductor device includes: a silicon carbide substrate; a semiconductor layer formed on the silicon carbide substrate; a gate electrode facing the semiconductor layer through a gate insulating film; an interlayer insulating film covering the gate electrode; a barrier metal formed on the interlayer insulating film; and a top electrode covering the barrier metal, wherein the barrier metal has a two-layer structure of a barrier metal and a barrier metal, and the barrier metal closer to the interlayer insulating film is made of a same metallic material as the barrier metal, the barrier metal being thinner than the barrier metal.