Patent ID: 8461645

Claim:
A semiconductor device, comprising: a vertical power semiconductor chip including a semiconductor layer; a first terminal at a first side of the semiconductor layer; a second terminal at a second side of the semiconductor layer opposite the first side along a first direction; and a drift zone within the semiconductor layer between the first terminal and the second terminal, the drift zone having, in a central part, a compressive stress of at least 100 MPa along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the central part extending from 40% to 60% of an overall extension of the drift zone along the first direction and into a depth of the semiconductor layer of at least 10 μm with respect to at least one of the first side and the second side of the semiconductor layer; at least one stressor layer adjoining the semiconductor layer, the at least one stressor layer configured to induce the compressive stress within the drift zone.