An insulated-gate semiconductor device, which has trenches arranged in a chip structure, the trenches defining both sidewalls in a first and second sidewall surface facing each other, includes: a first unit cell including a main-electrode region in contact with a first sidewall surface of a first trench, a base region in contact with a bottom surface of the main-electrode region and the first sidewall surface, a drift layer in contact with a bottom surface of the base region and the first sidewall surface, and a gate protection-region in contact with the second sidewall surface and a bottom surface of the first trench; and a second unit cell including an operation suppression region in contact with a first sidewall surface and a second sidewall surface of a second trench, wherein the second unit cell includes the second trench located at one end of an array of the trenches.

A method of splitting a semiconductor work piece includes: forming a separation zone within the semiconductor work piece, wherein forming the separation zone comprises modifying semiconductor material of the semiconductor work piece at a plurality of targeted positions within the separation zone in at least one physical property which increases thermo-mechanical stress within the separation zone relative to a remainder of the semiconductor work piece, wherein modifying the semiconductor material in one of the targeted positions comprises focusing at least two laser beams to the targeted position; and applying an external force or stress to the semiconductor work piece such that at least one crack propagates along the separation zone and the semiconductor work piece splits into two separate pieces. Additional work piece splitting techniques and techniques for compensating work piece deformation that occurs during the splitting process are also described.

A drift layer is formed over a semiconductor substrate which is an SiC substrate. The drift layer includes first to third n-type semiconductor layers and a p-type impurity region. Herein, an impurity concentration of the second n-type semiconductor layer is higher than an impurity concentration of the first n-type semiconductor layer and an impurity concentration of the third n-type semiconductor layer. Also, in plan view, the second semiconductor layer located between the p-type impurity regions adjacent to each other overlaps with at least a part of a gate electrode formed in a trench.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer structure and a gate formed in a gate trench in the semiconductor layer structure. The gate trench has a bottom surface comprising a first portion at a first level and a second portion at a second level, different from the first level. A method of forming a semiconductor device includes providing a semiconductor layer structure, etching a first gate trench into the semiconductor layer structure, etching a second gate trench into the semiconductor layer structure, and performing an ion implantation into a bottom surface of the second gate trench. The second gate trench is deeper than the first gate trench, and at least a portion of the second gate trench is connected to the first gate trench.

A semiconductor device includes a chip, an electrode that is formed on the chip, an inorganic insulating layer that covers the electrode and has a first opening exposing the electrode, an organic insulating layer that covers the inorganic insulating layer, has a second opening surrounding the first opening at an interval from the first opening, and exposes an inner peripheral edge of the inorganic insulating layer in a region between the first opening and the second opening, and an Ni plating layer that covers the electrode inside the first opening and covers the inner peripheral edge of the inorganic insulating layer inside the second opening.

The present disclosure relates a semiconductor device using a super junction structure, and includes: a semiconductor base body of a first conductivity type; a pillar part including a plurality of first pillars of a first conductivity type and a plurality of second pillars of a second conductivity type provided on the semiconductor base body to protrude in a thickness direction of the semiconductor base body; a pillar surrounding part of a first conductivity type or a second conductivity type provided around the pillar part; and a semiconductor element in which the pillar part is provided as an active region, wherein the plurality of first and second pillars have a striped shape in a plan view, and are alternately arranged in parallel to each other in a pillar width direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of each of the pillars.

A SiC semiconductor device includes a SiC chip having a main surface, a trench gate structure formed at the main surface, a trench source structure formed at the main surface away from the trench gate structure in one direction, an insulating film covering the trench gate structure and the trench source structure above the main surface, a gate main surface electrode formed on the insulating film and a gate wiring that is led out from the gate main surface electrode onto the insulating film such as to cross the trench gate structure and the trench source structure in the one direction, and that is electrically connected to the trench gate structure through the insulating film, and that faces the trench source structure with the insulating film between the trench source structure and the gate wiring.

In a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor wafer that is made of a semiconductor material harder than silicon and has a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other is prepared, a roughened layer is formed by grinding the second surface of the semiconductor wafer, a blade is pressed against the roughened layer to form a vertical crack in a surface layer of the semiconductor wafer, the roughened layer is removed after the vertical crack is formed, a rear surface electrode is formed on a rear surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the vertical crack is formed, and after the rear surface electrode is formed, the first surface of the semiconductor wafer is pressed and the semiconductor wafer is cleaved into multiple pieces with the vertical crack as a starting point.

A SiC SJ trench MOSFET having first and second type gate trenches for formation of gate electrodes and super junction regions is disclosed. The gate electrodes are disposed into the first type gate trenches having a thick oxide layer on trench bottom. The super junction regions are formed surrounding the second type gate trenches filled up with the thick oxide layer. The device further comprises gate oxide electric field reducing regions adjoining lower surfaces of body regions and space apart from the gate trenches.

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: preparing a semiconductor substrate; arranging a mask on one surface of the semiconductor substrate; forming opening portions in the mask by patterning so as to expose planned formation regions of the semiconductor substrate where trenches are to be formed; forming the trenches, which extend in a longitudinal direction along a planar direction of the semiconductor substrate, in the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the one surface, by performing a first etching using the mask; forming a rounded portion at an opening end portion of each of the trenches by performing a second etching in a state where the mask is arranged and under a condition that a selectivity of the mask is higher than that of the semiconductor substrate; and arranging a gate insulating film and a gate electrode in each of the trenches, thereby to form trench gate structures.