Abstract:
A conductor 1 crossing a trench around an electrical component 1 is electrically connected to an isolated intermediate conducting region in order to move the field strength concentrations out of the electrical component and into the intermediate conducting region. This prevents avalanche breakdown occurring in the electrical component.

Description:
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/045,636, filed Mar. 23, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,668. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a method and device for reducing electric field concentrations in electrical components. 
     In order to completely isolate components in integrated circuit from each other trench techniques may be used in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material. The SOI material which the component is to be formed on may consist of a thin layer of silicon on an insulating material. The component is completely isolated from the surroundings by a trench being etched down to the isolating substrate around the circumference of the component to be isolated. An isolating material, which can differ from that of the insulating substrate, is then deposited in the trench. This leaves components in the form of an island of silicon surrounded by insulating materials—laterally by the filled trench of isolating material and vertically by the insulating substrate 
     The insulating substrate and the trench isolating material could be, for example, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, sapphire, aluminium oxide or the like. Trench techniques and SOI technology are know from SZE, S.M., “VLSI Technology—2nd edition” 1988, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, USA and from SORIN CRISTOLOVEANU and SHENG SLI “Electrical Characterisation of Silicon-On-Insulator Materials and Devices” 1995, Kiuwer Academic Publishers, Massachusetts, USA. 
     This technique can be used to isolate high voltage components. However problems can occur owing to the electric field being concentrated at the sharp corner region of the active component. This electric-field concentration reduces the avalanche breakdown voltage of the corner region and this part of the device tums on at a lower voltage than the interior portion of the device. This problem is exacerbated in the case that a conductor with a high-voltage crosses the trench. This can lead to a lower than expected avalanche breakdown where the high-voltage conductor crosses the regions in which the electric-field concentration is highest. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention solves the problem of how to reduce the occurrence of avalanche breakdown where a high-voltage conductor crosses a region having a high electric-field concentration. 
     The problem is solved by means of an intermediate conducting region which is used to move The high electric-field concentrations out of a component to be protected. 
     The components produced according to the invention have an increased resistance to avalanche breakdown where a conductor crosses a trench which means that the distance between components and conductors can be reduced or the component can handle a higher voltage. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be described in more detail below by means of an example of an embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the figures where: 
     FIG. 1 a  shows a section through line I—I of the component in FIG. 1 b ; 
     FIG. 1 b  shows a plan view of iso-potentials in a prior art component; 
     FIG. 2 a  shows a section through line II—II of the component in FIG. 2 b ; and 
     FIG. 2 b  shows a plan view of iso-potentials in a component constructed according to the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIGS. 1 a  and  1   b  show a component  1  in the form of a semiconducting island  1  of, for example, silicon, which has been produced on a buried isolator  3  which has been formed on: a substrate  5 . Component  1  is separated from the surrounding silicon  7  by means of a trench  9  which is filled with isolating material, for example, silicon oxide  10  and polycrystalline silicon  11 . A conductor  13  with a high-potential is formed on the part of an isolator  3 ′ which is formed above component  1 , surrounding silicon  7  and trench  9 . Conductor  13  crosses trench  9  and passes over high-voltage component  1 . Conductor  13  is connected to component  1  by means of a contact  18 . Contact  18  can be connected to, for example, the anode (if component  1  is a diode) or collector or drain  19  (if component  1  is a transistor) of component  1 . Thus a part  19  of component  1  is at a higher potential than surrounding silicon  7  and trench  9 . An example of how the iso-potential lines in the high-voltage component  1  could be are shown by dotted lines. The exact distribution of the isopotential lines naturally depends on the state of the component and vary with its activity. The closer together the iso-potential lines are the greater is the concentration of the electrical field in the material and the easier it is for an avalanche breakdown to occur. It can be seen from the figures that the greatest risk for avalanche breakdown is at the corner  14  of high-voltage component  1  which is nearest to where conductor  13  crosses trench  9 . The concentration of the electrical field inside component  1  is highest in comer  14 . Avalanche breakdown is undesirable as it affects the function of any component experiencing it. 
     FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b  show a similar component provided with avalanche breakdown preventing means according to the present invention. An intermediate conducting region in the form of an island of silicon  15  has been surrounded by a non-conducting trench structure  16  produced in any conventional way. Island  15  is connected to conductor  13  by means of a contact  17 . As above conductor  13  is connected to component  1  by means of a contact  18 . Contact  18  can be connected to, for example, the anode (if component  1  is a diode) or collector or drain  19  (if component  1  is a transistor) of component  1 . Thus a part  19  of component  1  is at a higher potential than surrounding silicon  7  and trench  9 . 
     However, as can be seen by the dotted lines the peak concentrations of the iso-potential lines no longer occur in the component  1  but are in island  15 . Hence component  1  can for example work at higher potentials with a reduced risk of avalanche breakdown at comer  14  in the active component. If avalanche breakdown occurs then it will take place in island  15  which preferably does not contain an active component. Thus avalanche breakdown will not affect the functioning of component  1 . 
     The optimum size of island  15  depends, amongst others, on the potential difference between the conductor  13  and the adjacent conducting region  7  and components  1 , the size of the conductor and the thickness and material of the insulation  3 ′. In order to save space on the constituent wafer the island  15  should preferably be as small as possible and hence should have a surface area considerably less than that normally used for constructing an electrical component  1 . It should be at least less than one half of the size of the component  1  that it is protecting and is preferably less than one tenth the size. In order to enclose the field-concentrations it should be at least as wide as the overlying conductor  13 . Preferably the suitable maximum side lengths or diameters for such islands which are attached to a single conductor is in the range of 1-100 m. It is naturally possible that for manufacturing reasons, it would be preferable to form the island  15  as an elongated rectangle between two parallel trenches  9 ,  16  which run along substantially the whole length of one or more sides of a component  1 . In this case the above given maximum size for the length of a side may need to be surpassed. In order to save space the island  15  preferably should not extend around the whole of the circumference of the component  1  but should be limited to regions underlying conductor(s)  13 . 
     It is conceivable that an island  15  can be formed so as to be connected to two or more conductors in which case the maximum dimension of the island may be much more than 100 m. However it is still preferable that its width be in the above mentioned ranges of size. In this case the conductors should have approximately the same electrical potential to reduce the risk for avalanche breakdown in the island  15 . Preferably any difference in electrical potential should be less than 10 V. 
     Although it is possible to conceive an arrangement where the island  15  is formed as a functional electrical component such as a resistor, capacitor, diode or transistor, in the preferred arrangement island  15  is inactive, that is, it has no function other than to displace the field strength concentrations away from a nearby component. If island  15  is a functional electrical component then it should be less sensitive to avalanche breakdown than component  1 . 
     Although shown as a rectangular island in the embodiment above, any suitable shape of island  15  could be used in a device according to the invention. The isolating material around the structures mentioned above can be any suitable material or combinations of materials. Suitable materials include doped or undoped amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon, silicon dioxide and/or nitride and/or any other insulating material. 
     Furthermore the invention is not restricted to use with components produced on a buried isolator but may be adapted for use with any electrical components. 
     The examples of embodiments of the invention described above relate to electrical devices using silicon as the semiconductor material but are equally applicable to devices using other semiconductor materials.