173
Silicon Power Schottky Diodes Model
Implemented in SPICE
Jacek Dąbrowski, Janusz Zarębski
Abstract – The paper deals with the problem of
modelling d.c. characteristics of silicon power Schottky diodes
with thermal effects taken into account. The
electrothermal model of the investigated diodes was formulated
for SPICE and experimentally verified . The evaluation of
accuracy of the elaborated model has been performed by
comparison of measured and calculated characteristics of a
selected Schottky diode.
Keywords – Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs), Modelling,
Self-heating, Electrothermal model (ETM), SPICE.
I. INTRODUCTION
The Schottky barrier diodes belong to the class of unipolar
devices. The fundamental advantage of the silicon SBDs, in
comparison with pin silicon diodes, is their very high
switching speed [1, 2], whereas the most important drawback
is a low value of the blocking (breakdown) voltage,
not higher than 250 V [3]. The improvement of properties of
the considered power devices is possible by using wide band -
gap materials, as: silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN)
or diamond (C), in the SBDs fabrication process. Currently,
due to advancement of technology, the most pr omising one is
silicon carbide. Since 2001, 300 V and 600 V SiC Schottky
diodes manufactured by Infineon Technologies have been
available in the market [4]. Since 2002 also Cree has been
offering SiC SBDs of 1.2 kV blocking voltage [5].
A very important feature of all semiconductor devices, is
influence of the temperature on t heir characteristics. Due to
self-heating, resulting from change of device dissipated
thermal power into the heat at non -ideal cooling conditions,
the inner (junction) temperature, oft en much greater than
the ambient one, affects the device characteristics [6].
In modelling, very important role is played by credible,
experimentally verified lumped models of semiconductor
devices. Commonly used device models are isothermal ones,
valid only at a fixed value of the device temperature (the inner
device temperature equals the ambient temperature). On the
other hand, the lumped electrothermal models including the
self-heating are formulated as the connection of th e electrical
(isothermal) model and a thermal model describing
dependence of the device inner temperature on the dissipated
thermal power. The characteristics obtained by the isothermal
and electrothermal models are called isothermal and non -
isothermal ones, respectively [6].
In the process of analysis and designing electronic circuits,
effective computer-tools are more and more frequently used.
One of the most popular is SPICE (especially PSPICE),
possessing built–in models of semiconductor devices and ICs ,
including the diode model along with library parameter values
Jacek Dąbrowski, Janusz Zarębski – Gdynia Maritime University,
Department of Marine Electronics, Morska Str. 81-87, 81-225
Gdynia, POLAND
E-mail: oakjack@am.gdynia.pl; zarebski@am.gdynia.pl
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for a lot of devices [7]. The SPICE built –in isothermal model
of the semiconductor diode, can be used to modelling of the
characteristics of power Schottky diodes [8]. The leading
electronic manufacturers, for example ON Semiconductor,
make accessible this model parame ter values for Schottky
diodes at their web-sides. Unfortunately, as the preliminary
authors investigations were shown [ 9], the accuracy of the
literature models of the investigat ed class of semiconductor
devices dedicated for SPICE, is unsatisfactory. So, there is
need to formulate a new electrothermal model of the power
Schottky diodes with acceptable accuracy, including thermal
effects, appropriated for the SPICE computer progra m.
In the paper the new electrothermal model of silicon
power Schottky diodes for d.c. analysis is presented and
investigated. This model was formulated in the form of the
subcircuit for PSPICE. The experimental verification of this
model is performed by comparison of results of simulations
and measurements of a selected power Schottky diode.
II. MODEL
The network form of the model of the silicon power
Schottky diodes worked out by the author s is shown
in Fig. 1 [10].
A Electrical
(isothermal)
Thermal model
GD
model TJ
ETJ
TJF
ERTH
IGP VIGD
VIGP IGD
TA MID
GP
VTA ERS
C
Thermal power
model
Fig. 1 Network form of the electrothermal model of the silicon
power Schottky diodes
As seen, the elaborated ETM consists of the electrical
(isothermal) model, the thermal model, as well as the thermal
power model.
The isothermal model consists of three elements, where the
controlled current source GD describes the main d.c. current
of the diode, the controlled voltage source ERS models the
diode series resistance, and the independent voltage source
 174
VIGD of the efficiency equal to z ero, which plays a role of the   
H

meter of the efficiency of the controlled current source. 1  u  for  u  BRV (T j ) (6)
The controlled current source GD is of the efficiency KAVAL ( u , T j )    BRV (T j ) 
[10, 11]: 
1 for  u
BRV (T j )

I GD (u , T j )  ID (u , T j )  KLOW (u , T j ) 
KAVAL (u , T j ) 
1
 (1)
 IBR (u , T j )
where Tj – the inner diode temperature, u – the voltage
between A and MID nodes, ID denotes the thermionic
emission current, KLOW determines the Schottky barrier
lowering effect [12], KAVAL is the avalanche voltage
coefficient, whereas IBR denotes the avalanche breakdown
current.
The thermionic emission current is exp ressed by the
formula [10, 11]:
where H is the coefficient determining the characteristics
hardness, while BRV(Tj) denotes the temperature dependence
of the breakdown voltage of the form:
BRV (T j )  BRVV 
1  TBRVV  (T j  TO )  (7)
In Eq. (7) BRVV is the isothermal breakdown voltage
corresponding to the reference temperature TO, whereas
TBRVV is the thermal coefficient of the breakdown voltage.
The avalanche breakdown current is described by the
following formula [10]:

 B
ID ( u , T j )  S  A R  T ji  exp  

IBR (u , T j )  IB  exp

 BRV (T j )  u  q 
 (8)
T  k  T  NBR 
1  TNBR  (T  T )  
 j  (2)  j j O 
  q u  
  exp  1
 k  T  N ( u , T )   where IB represents the current at BRVV voltage, parameter
 j j   NBR describes the slope of the avalanche characteristic s, and
where TNBR is the temperature coefficient of NBR parameter.
q  B (3) The efficiency of the voltage controlled source ERS is
B
k described by [10]:

In Eq. (2) following notations are used: S – the device area, U ERS  IVIGD  RS (T j ) (9)
AR – the Richardson’s constant, i – the temperature index
(for the ideal diode i = 2), B – the constant proportional to the where RS(Tj) is the diode series resistance dependent on the
barrier height B, expressed in Kelvins, whereas N(u,Tj) temperature, whereas IVIGD is the current of the zero voltage
denotes the emission coefficient. This coefficient is given by source VIGD.
the equation [10]: The diode series resistance is given by the following
equation [10]:
 1  TNF1 (T j  TO ) 
 NF   for u
0 (4)

RS (T j )  RSW  1  TRS1 (T j  TO )  TRS 2  (T j  TO ) 2 (10)
N (u, T j )    TNF 2  (T  T ) 2 
 j O 

 NR for u  0 where RSW is the diode series resistance at the reference
temperature, and TRS1, TRS2 are the temperature coefficients
where NF is the parameter for the forward biased diode, TNF1 of the diode resistance.
and TNF2 are the thermal coefficients of NF parameter, The thermal model describes the relation between the inner
whereas NR describes the reverse biased diode. device temperature and the therma l power dissipated in the
The Schottky barrier lowering effect occurring in the Schottky diode. The ambient temperature value is de termined
reverse biased diode is described by the exponential function by the potential value of the node TA, whereas the
[10, 11]: independent voltage source VIGP play a r ole of the meter of
the thermal power. The controlled voltage source ETJ limits
k p  the calculated values of the inner diode temperature
SCH  u
4
 (5) up to 300 oC. The controlled voltage source ERTH models the
KLOW ( u , T j )  exp 
Tj  thermal resistance between the junction and the ambient,
  dependent on the thermal power dissipated in the diode and
the ambient temperature. The efficiency of the voltage
with parameters kSCH and p. controlled source ERTH is described by [10]:
The avalanche voltage coefficient depends on the junction
temperature and is given by the following expression [10]:
  RTH 
1  k RTH 
Ta  TO  
 
U ERTH  IVIGP  LIMIT   IVIGP   ,0,   (11)

 log    
  1 A  
   

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 175
where IVIGP is the zero voltage source VIGP current (equals
the thermal power), LIMIT denotes SPICE standard function,
RTH is the junction–to–ambient thermal resistance dependent
on the ambient temperature Ta, measured at the thermal power
equal to 1 W in the reference temperature TO, whereas kRTH,
α and β are the model parameters. The Eq. (11) was
determined from the measurements carried out in the special
measuring set, designed by the authors.
In the thermal power model the efficiency of the current
controlled source GP is described by the formula [10, 11]:
whereas thick lines represent calculation results performed by
SPICE with the use of the elaborated ETM.
As seen in Fig. 2, the simulations obtained with the use of
the SPICE built-in diode model differ considerably from the
measurements, whereas the new ETM of the Schottky diode s
assures a good agreement between calculations and
measurements of the investi gated diode.
4.5 measurements
4.0
ETM

Forward current [A]

3.5 SPICE built-in
3.0 diode model
I GP (u , T j )  I VIGD  u ( A, C ) (12)
2.5

2.0 25oC
where u(A,C) is the voltage between A and C nodes. o
150 C
1.5
III. RESULTS 1.0

To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed model described 0.5

MBR1045
in Chapter II, some SPICE simulations of d.c. characteristics 0.0
have been compared to the measurements of the silicon 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55

Schottky barrier diode – MBR1045 (Vishay). Note, that the Forward voltage [V]
considered diode has been operated without any heat -sink,
and the proposed mode l was implemented in PSPICE Fig. 2 The forward characteristics of the MBR1045 diode
as a subcircuit of the form of the file with . cir extension.
The important task is estimation of electrical and thermal Next, as seen in Fig. 3 the non-isothermal characteristics
parameters for the elaborated model, to obtain good corresponding to three values of the ambient temperature
agreement between the results of numerical analysis and the much differ from the isothermal ones , whereas the
measurements of the investigated devi ce. With the proposed calculation results based on the authors model and
model a proper procedure of estimation of the elaborated the measured character istics fit very well. On the investigated
model parameters, based on results of measurements of non-isothermal characteristics there are points interpreted as
characteristics of the Schottky diodes, has been performed and the electrothermal breakdown points, at which the device
presented in [10]. The model parameter values for MBR1045 differential resistance changes its sign fro m the positive to
diode, obtained with the use of this estimation procedure, are negative one.
given in Table I.
Reverse voltage [V]
TABLE I
70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
THE PARAMETER VALUES OF THE ELABORATED MODEL FOR MBR 1045 0.0001
SCHOTTKY DIODE MBR1045 measurements ETM
0.001

Reverse current [mA]

SPICE built-in
Parameter Parameter diode model
Value Value 26oC
[unit] [unit] 0.01
B [K] 8260 TRS1 [K -1] 0.0085
0.1
S [cm2] 0.0814 TRS2 [K-2] -210-5
AR [A/cm2K2] 112 TNF1 [K -1] -2.27310-5 1
RSW [m] 15.6 TNF2 [K -2] -2.2110-6 75oC
10
NF 1.03 i 1.98
o
125 C
BRVV [V] 61 TBRVV [K -1] 0.0015 100
NR 1 TNBR [K -1] 0
kSCH [K/V p/4] 90 TO [K] 294 Fig. 3 The reverse characteristics of the MBR1045 diode
p 1.8 RTH [K/W] 66
H 2 kRTH [K-1] 0.0015 One should notice, that the value of the electrothermal
IB [A] 0.3  [K/W] 21 breakdown voltage at the characteristics corresponding to the
highest temperature value equal to 125 oC is much less than
NBR 1 [K/W] 75
the value of the reverse blocking voltage (equal 45 V)
warranted in a catalogue of the diode MBR1045.
The results of the investigations of the MBR1045 diode
in the wide range of temperature changes are presented IV. CONCLUSION
in Fig. 2 – forward range, and Fig. 3 – reverse range. In these
figures, points denote non-isothermal measurements, thin In the paper it has been shown, that the properties of silicon
lines – calculation results performed by SPICE built-in diode power Schottky diodes significantly depend on the
model with the use of the available library parameter values, self-heating phenomenon. The new elaborated electrothermal

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 176
model of the power Schottky diode s makes possible to
evaluate the influence of thermal phenomena on properties
of the investigated devices. This model is ver y accurate and
can be use in practice, especially in design of electronic
circuits comprising power Schottky diodes.
REFERENCES
[1] H. Kapels, R. Rupp, L. Lorenz, I. Zverev, "SiC Schottky
Diodes: A Milestone Hard Switching Applications ",
PCIM 2001.
[2] V. Benda, J. Gowar, D.A. Grant, "Power Semiconductor
Devices – Theory and Applications ", John Wiley & Sons
Ltd., 1999.
[3] http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/MBR40250
[4] I. Zverev, M. Treu, H. Kapels, O. Hellmund, R. Rupp,
"SiC Schottky Rectifiers: Performance, Reliability and
Key Applications", EPE Conf.Proc., Graz, August 2001.
[5] http://www.cree.com/products/power_docs.htm .
[6] J. Zarębski, "Modelling, Simulations and Measurements
of Electrothermal Course in Semiconductor Devices
and Electronic Circuits" (in Polish), Maritime Academy
in Gdynia, 1996.
[7] PSpice Reference Guide, Product Version 10.0, June
2003, pp. 146-151.
[8] M. Shur, "Introduction to Electronic Devices ", John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.
[9] J. Zarębski, J. Dąbrowski, "Modelling Power Schottky
Diodes", International Conference TCSET’2006,
Lviv-Slavsko, Ukraine, February 2006, pp. 90-93.
[10] J. Dąbrowski, "Modelling of Power Schottky Diodes with
Thermal Effects Taken into Account" (in Polish),
doctor’s thesis, Technical University of Lodz , 2007.
[11] J. Zarębski, J. Dąbrowski, "Modelling of Non -Isothermal
Characteristics of Reverse -Biased Power Schottk y
Diodes", International Seminar on Power
Semiconductors ISPS’2006 , Prague, August 2006,
pp. 99-102.
[12] S.M. Sze, "Physics of Semiconductor Devices ", John
Wiley & Sons, New York, 1969.

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