Correction of the reverse recovery characteristics of high-voltage 4$H$-SiC junction diodes using proton irradiation

The effect of proton irradiation on the electrical characteristics of high-voltage (3 kV) 4$H$-SiC junction diodes is studied. The diodes are irradiated through a 10-$\mu$m-thick Ni mask. The proton energy and the irradiation dose are 2.8 MeV and 4 $\times$ 10$^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively. After irradiation, the forward differential resistance of the diodes increased by $\sim$35%, the reverse-recovery charge decreased by a factor of $\sim$3, and the nature of the reverse recovery became “hard”.