VMOS

A VMOS (vertical metal oxide semiconductor or V-groove MOS) transistor is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (<a href="/facts/MOSFET/eTDJT2Km">MOSFET</a>). VMOS is also used to describe the V-groove shape vertically cut into the substrate material.
The "V" shape of the <a href="/facts/MOSFET/eTDJT2Km">MOSFET</a>'s <a href="/facts/Gate_oxide/84kcAbyL">gate</a> allows the device to deliver a higher amount of <a href="/facts/Electric_current/Dc1xdnUX">current</a> from the <a href="/facts/Field_effect_transistor/TerYC6Nz">source to the drain</a> of the device. The shape of the <a href="/facts/Depletion_region/54fB1pfE">depletion region</a> creates a wider channel, allowing more current to flow through it.
During operation in blocking mode, the highest electric field occurs at the N+/p+ junction. The presence of a sharp corner at the bottom of the groove enhances the electric field at the edge of the channel in the depletion region, thus reducing the breakdown voltage of the device. This electric field launches electrons into the gate oxide and consequently, the trapped electrons shift the threshold voltage of the MOSFET. For this reason, the V-groove architecture is no longer used in commercial devices.
The device's use was a <a href="/facts/Power_device/5c22S6E6">power device</a> until more suitable geometries, like the <a href="/facts/Power_MOSFET/rfT6MMTf">UMOS</a> (or Trench-Gate MOS) were introduced in order to lower the maximum <a href="/facts/Electric_field/tt4MooBs">electric field</a> at the top of the V shape and thus leading to higher maximum voltages than in case of the VMOS.

VMOS open-in-new

VMOS