High drain-current-density and high breakdown-field Al0.36Ga0.64N-channel heterojunction filed-effect transistors with a dual AlN/AlGaInN barrier layer

In this study, we fabricated and characterized heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) based on an Al0.36Ga0.64N-channel heterostructure with a dual AlN/AlGaInN barrier layer. The device fabrication was accomplished by adopting a regrown n++-GaN layer for ohmic contacts. The fabricated HFETs with a gate length of 2 μm and a gate-to-drain distance of 6 μm exhibited an on-state drain current density as high as approximately 270 mA/mm and an off-state breakdown voltage of approximately 1 kV, which corresponds to an off-state critical electric field of 166 V/μm. This breakdown field, as a comparison in devices without field-plate electrodes, reaches approximately four-fold higher than that for conventional GaN-channel HFETs and was considered quite reasonable as an Al0.36Ga0.64N-channel transistor. It was also confirmed that the devices adopting the dual AlN/AlGaInN barrier layer showed approximately one order of magnitude smaller gate leakage currents than those for devices without the top AlN barrier layer.

Large-size (1.7 × 1.7 mm2) β-Ga2O3 field-plated trench MOS-type Schottky barrier diodes with 1.2 kV breakdown voltage and 109 high on/off current ratio

We fabricated high forward and low leakage current trench MOS-type Schottky barrier diodes (MOSSBDs) in combination with a field plate on a 12 μm thick epitaxial layer grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy on β-Ga2O3 (001) substrate. The MOSSBDs, measuring 1.7 × 1.7 mm2, exhibited a forward current of 2 A (70 A cm−2) at 2 V forward voltage and a leakage current of 5.7 × 10–10 A at −1.2 kV reverse voltage (on/off current ratio of > 109) with an ideality factor of 1.05 and wafer-level specific on-resistance of 17.1 mΩ · cm2.

Improvement of Q rr-I DSS and dynamic avalanche of field-plate MOSFET by local lifetime control on the cathode side

Reducing the reverse recovery charge (Qrr) is effective for reducing switching loss in field plate (FP)-MOSFETs. A lifetime killer is utilized to reduce Qrr while increasing the leakage current in the off-state. Device simulation shows that a local lifetime killer on the cathode side successfully improves the trade-off between Qrr and IDSS in comparison with that of a uniform lifetime killer. A known issue of cathode lifetime killers is overshoot voltage by hard recovery. However, the overshoot voltage of FP-MOSFET decreases with a cathode lifetime killer owing to an internal snubber, which is a feature of FP-MOSFETs. An internal snubber with a large series resistance causes dynamic avalanche by both the increase of FP potential and excess carriers in high-speed operation. The cathode lifetime killer also improves dynamic avalanche by excess carriers. Consequently, the cathode lifetime killer is preferable for high-speed FP-MOSFETs.

Reduction of reverse leakage current at the TiO2/GaN interface in field plate Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes

This paper presents the fabrication procedure of TiO2 passivated field plate Schottky diode and gives a comparison of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky barrier diodes without field plate and with field plate of varying diameters from 50 to 300 µm. The influence of field oxide (TiO2) on the leakage current of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diode was investigated. This suggests that the TiO2 passivated structure reduces the reverse leakage current of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diode. Also, the reverse leakage current of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes decreases as the field plate length increases. The temperature-dependent electrical characteristics of TiO2 passivated field plate Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes have shown an increase of barrier height within the temperature range 300…475 K.

Enhancing Breakdown Voltage of a Ga2O3 Schottky Barrier Diode with Small-Angle Beveled and High-k Oxide Field Plate

To increase their breakdown voltage, Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with a beveled field plate were designed based on TCAD platform simulations. The small-angle beveled field plate can effectively alleviate the electric field concentration effect. The breakdown voltage of Ga2O3 SBDs can reach 1217 V with the SiO2 dielectric and a small-angle (1°) beveled field plate. However, the breakdown mechanism is the early breakdown of the dielectric layer. TO further increase the breakdown voltage, the replacement of SiO2 with a high-k dielectric (Al2O3 and HfO2) can transfer the breakdown location into the Ga2O3 drift layer. By combining the beveled small-angle design and the high-k dielectric, the device demonstrates a Baliga’s figure of merit of 2.94 GW/cm2 and breakdown voltage of 3108V.