Electrical characteristics of self-biased channel diode

A new low-loss diode, a self-biased channel diode, is described. In order to achieve a two-terminal operation by using a self-bias, the shunt electrode of the source and gate of the conventional DMOSFET with a floating body is adopted in this diode. By utilizing a DMOSFET, this proposed diode attains a high breakdown voltage compared with a lateral MOSFET. In this device, forward conduction is caused by the self-gate bias created by applying a positive voltage to the shunt electrode of the source and gate with respect to the drain. The direction of forward conduction is opposite to that of forward conduction in a conventional DMOSFET. In the reverse-bias state, the reverse current is very small without any bias owing to the shunt of the source and the gate electrode. In this report, the operational mechanism and electrical characteristics of the device fabricated for the proposed diode are discussed. From the experimental results, it is clear that at room temperature, the on-state voltage of the proposed diode is between that of the Ti-SBD and Cr-SBD. The simulated I-V characteristics are consistent with the measured values. From the simulation results, the proposed diode, in which a thin gate oxide layer and a high integration density of the DMOSFET cell are used, shows lower power loss in the temperature range 25-75°C than does the Cr-SBD. At high temperatures the power loss in the proposed diode is lower than that observed in the Ti-SBD and Cr-SBD which easily fall into thermal runaway. © 2010 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.