Home Search Collections Journals About Contact us My IOPscience

Gallium nitride devices for power electronic applications

This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text.

2013 Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 074011

(http://iopscience.iop.org/0268-1242/28/7/074011)

View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more

Download details:

IP Address: 59.92.148.132
This content was downloaded on 20/10/2014 at 16:29

Please note that terms and conditions apply.

IOP PUBLISHING SEMICONDUCTOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011 (8pp) doi:10.1088/0268-1242/28/7/074011

INVITED REVIEW

Gallium nitride devices for power

electronic applications
B Jayant Baliga
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695,
USA
E-mail: bjbaliga@ncsu.edu

Received 27 July 2012, in final form 30 August 2012

Published 21 June 2013
Online at stacks.iop.org/SST/28/074011

Abstract
Recent success with the fabrication of high-performance GaN-on-Si high-voltage HFETs has
made this technology a contender for power electronic applications. This paper discusses the
properties of GaN that make it an attractive alternative to established silicon and emerging SiC
power devices. Progress in development of vertical power devices from bulk GaN is reviewed
followed by analysis of the prospects for GaN-on-Si HFET structures. Challenges and
innovative solutions to creating enhancement-mode power switches are reviewed.
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

Introduction
Silicon power devices have dominated the power electronics
application space during the second half of the 20th century.
Beginning with bipolar power transistors and thyristors in the
1950s, the industry migrated to MOS-gated devices in the
1980s. The silicon power MOSFET became well established
as the device of choice for applications operating at power
supply voltages below 200 V. This includes the lucrative
automotive market and the computing sector. The high specific
on-resistance of silicon power MOSFETs with larger
breakdown voltages spurred the creation of MOS-bipolar
functional integration resulting in the emergence of the
insulated gate bipolar iransistor (IGBT) in the 1980s [1]. The
low on-state voltage drop of high-voltage IGBTs, together with
ease of control and superb ruggedness, greatly reduced the cost
and size of power electronic circuits making it the predominant
technology in consumer, industrial, transportation, lighting
and renewable energy applications. Any new technology must
offer substantial improvements to the on-state voltage drop
and switching losses, while retaining all the other attributes of
ease of control and ruggedness, in order to displace this widely
accepted technology. A detailed description and analysis of
silicon unipolar and bipolar power devices is available in
a recent textbook [2]. During the 1990s, many innovative
ideas have been proposed and demonstrated for silicon power
devices that have now become available as products. These
ideas have been described and analyzed in supplementary
books published during the last several years [3–5]. Any new
proposed technology must surpass the performance of not only
the traditional silicon power devices but be able to compete
with these enhanced-performance silicon devices as well.
The first analysis relating the performance of power
devices to the basic material properties of semiconductors
was developed at GE in 1980 and published in 1982 [6]. The
analysis produced a simple equation, now commonly referred
to as Baliga’s figure of merit (BFOM), to evaluate the potential
improvements in the drift region resistance of unipolar power
devices by substituting silicon with other semiconductor
materials. This analysis indicated a 13.7-times improvement
by replacing silicon with gallium arsenide. Based upon this
projection, GaAs power devices with high performance were
developed at GE in the 1980s [7, 8]. Subsequently, GaAs
Schottky power rectifiers with breakdown voltage of 200 V
became commercially available from several companies by
leveraging this work. These devices represent the first-power
semiconductor products based upon replacing silicon with
wide bandgap semiconductor material.
The predicted BFOM for silicon carbide of more than
1000 provided strong motivation for development of unipolar
devices from the available 6H-SiC polytype material in the
1990s. The first high-voltage (400 V) SiC Schottky rectifier
with low (∼1 V) on-state voltage drop and excellent reverse
recovery characteristics was reported by NCSU in 1992 [9].
This work demonstrated the promise of SiC-based power
devices for mainstream power electronic applications which

0268-1242/13/074011+08$33.00 1 © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK & the USA
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011 Invited Review

changed the industry perspective that was focused until that

time on specialty high-temperature niche markets for power
devices made from this material. Significant effort in the
1990s to grow high-quality 4H-SiC polytype material with
large wafer diameter and the development of processes for
making ohmic contacts, Schottky contacts and improved MOS
interfaces has resulted in the introduction of SiC Schottky
rectifier and power MOSFET products by many companies
including CREE Inc, Rohm, Infineon and GeneSiC. These
devices represent a new benchmark that must be surpassed
by any emerging technology such as GaN-based power
devices. A comprehensive review of the design and operating
characteristics of SiC power devices was published in
2006 [10].
Interest in gallium nitride grew in the 1990s due its
potential for applications in the lighting and cellular amplifier
markets [11, 12]. Commercial products based upon this
material have become highly successful in these markets.
Recently, significant interest has emerged in utilizing this
material for making power devices that could surpass the
performance of silicon high-voltage devices and be more Figure 1. Measured impact ionization coefficients for electrons and
cost effective than silicon carbide power devices. This holes in gallium nitride.
review provides a description of GaN power device options.
Recent measurements of the impact ionization coefficients are reverse bias on the Schottky diodes were performed. It was
included here because of their important role in defining the found that the impact ionization coefficient for electrons could
critical electric field for breakdown, which is essential to the be obtained by using low electron beam energy to produce
design of any GaN high-voltage structures. excitation close to the Schottky contact. In contrast, it was
found that the impact ionization coefficient for holes could
Impact ionization coefficients be obtained by using high electron beam energy to produce
excitation through most of the depletion region [15]. The
The maximum voltage that a semiconductor device can sustain experimental results are shown in figure 1 as the data points
is limited by the on-set of avalanche breakdown created with appropriate standard deviation due to performing multiple
by the impact ionization process [2]. The impact ionization measurements at a site and across multiple diodes. The straight
phenomenon is characterized by the impact ionization lines provide a fit to Chynoweth’s equation [16]:
coefficients for electrons and holes which are defined as α = a e(− b/E ) . (1)
the number of electron-hole pairs created by the mobile From the measured data for electrons in GaN, an has a
particle traversing 1 cm through the depletion region along value of 1.5 × 105 (+ or − 0.2 × 105) cm−1 and bn has a
the direction of the electric field. The measurement of these value of 1.41 × 107 (+ or − 0.03 × 107) V cm−1 at room
coefficients is complicated by the presence of defects in the temperature. From the measured data for holes in GaN, ap has
semiconductor material, nonuniform electric fields within the a value of 6.4 × 105 (+ or − 0.1 × 105) cm−1 and bp has a
structure, and the onset of premature breakdown at the edges value of 1.46 × 107 (+ or − 0.01 × 107) V cm−1 at room
of the chips. The impact ionization coefficients for electrons temperature. The temperature dependence of these parameters
and holes in gallium nitride have been successfully measured for GaN has also been measured by using a heating stage
after a 3 year effort at NCSU by using a pulsed electron beam installed inside the scanning electron microscope used for the
technique [13]. A pulsed electron beam technique was used pulsed electron beam experiments [13]:
for this work to localize the measurements to avoid defects an = 2.82 × 106 − 6.34 × 103 T (2)
detected in the material using electron beam induced current
(EBIC) scans. Schottky barrier diodes were fabricated on a p = 2.98 × 106 − 7.02 × 103 T. (3)
N-type GaN epitaxial layers with low doping concentration The coefficients bn and bp were found to be independent of
grown on highly doped N+ GaN substrates. The problem temperature within experimental tolerances. These data are
of high electric fields at the edges of the diodes was solved valuable for use in numerical simulation software used for
by using argon ion implantation which raised the breakdown the analysis of any GaN devices such as lateral microwave
voltage from 300 V to 1650 V [14]. Pulsing the electron beam transistors, and vertical or lateral power devices.
during the impact ionization measurements greatly improved
the signal to noise ratio by using a lock-in amplifier. Vertical power devices
Extensive numerical simulations of the experimental
procedure for extraction of the impact ionization coefficients Most silicon power devices are manufactured with a vertical
from the multiplication factor obtained as a function of the device structure because this allows placement of the high

2
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011 Invited Review

Figure 3. Comparison of GaN maximum depletion width with Si

and SiC.
Figure 2. One-dimensional electric field distribution within vertical
power devices.

current carrying terminals on opposite surfaces of the silicon

chip. This design allows maintaining a uniform current density
within the chip and avoids the need to pattern very fine metal
lines during device processing. The typical structures for the
vertical Schottky power rectifier and the vertical planar power
MOSFET are shown in figure 2 together with the electric
field distribution obtained using one-dimensional analysis of
Poisson’s equation for the drift region. In these devices, the
maximum electric field (EM) occurs at the blocking interface
(metal–semiconductor contact in the Schottky rectifier or the
P–N junction in the power MOSFET) with a linear reduction
in magnitude to zero at a width WD for the depletion region.
The devices undergo avalanche breakdown when the ionization
integral across the depletion region becomes equal to unity [2].
Simple equations for the breakdown condition can be derived Figure 4. Comparison of GaN critical electric field with Si and SiC.
if a power law approximation is used for the impact ionization
coefficients. For a given doping concentration (ND) in the drift Solving the ionization integral with this power law provides
region, the analysis then predicts that avalanche breakdown
the following relationships for the drift region for an ideal GaN
occurs when the maximum electric field becomes equal to a
vertical power device:
critical electric field for breakdown (EC) with a corresponding
maximum depletion width W PP. WPP = 1.57 × 1011 ND(−7/8) (6)
The ideal specific on-resistance is defined as the resistance
of this drift region for unit cross sectional area. It is given by EC = 3.19 × 104 ND(1/8) (7)
2
RON,SP =
4 BV
(4) BVPP = 2.51 × 1015 ND(−3/4) . (8)
εS μn EC3
The values for the maximum depletion layer width, the
where BV is the breakdown voltage, εS is the dielectric constant critical electric field for breakdown and the breakdown voltage
and μn is the mobility. The denominator of this expression is predicted by these equations are plotted in figures 3–5,
commonly referred to as Baliga’s figure of merit (BFOM). respectively. In order to verify the accuracy of the
In order to obtain the BFOM for GaN, it is necessary analytical model, data were obtained by performing numerical
to obtain the critical electric field for breakdown which is a simulations with the impact ionization coefficients given by
function of the doping concentration of the drift region. The
equation (1) [13]. The data obtained from the numerical
critical electric field for breakdown in silicon is commonly
simulations for the above parameters are shown by the dots
obtained by using a Fulops power law fit to the impact
in the figures. It can be concluded that the proposed analytical
ionization data [17]. In a similar manner, the Ozbek–Baliga
model in equation (5) provides an accurate match to the results
power law fit for GaN has been proposed [13]:
of numerical simulations. Using the analytical model, it is
α = 1.5 × 10−42 E 7 . (5) found that the critical electric field for GaN is 1.23-times

3
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011
Figure 5. Comparison of GaN breakdown voltage with Si and SiC.
Figure 6. Comparison of GaN ideal specific on-resistance with Si
and SiC.
larger than that for 4H–SiC and 7.97-times larger than that
for silicon.
Using the above equations, the ideal specific on-resistance
for the drift region of a vertical GaN power device is given by
RON,SP (GaN) = 3.12 × 10−12 BV2.5 (9)
if a mobility of 1000 cm2 (V s)−1 is used independent of the
doping concentration. Values for the specific on-resistance for
GaN obtained by using this equation are compared with those
for silicon and 4H-SiC devices in figure 6. It can be concluded
that the ideal specific on-resistance for GaN vertical power
devices is 1.78-times smaller than that for 4H-SiC and 2130-
times smaller than that for silicon at all breakdown voltages.
Vertical GaN power devices can be fabricated either from
bulk GaN substrates or by the homo-epitaxial growth of
lightly doped thin GaN layers on thick more heavily doped
GaN substrates. The development of Schottky rectifiers from
GaN grown on a variety of substrates has been reviewed
by Zhang et al [18]. The emphasis of this work was on
achieving high breakdown voltages with relatively poor on-
state characteristics. Edge terminations for the devices play
4
Invited Review
an important role in determining the breakdown voltages [19].
Recently, nearly ideal breakdown voltage has been achieved by
using an argon implanted edge termination [14, 20]. With this
approach, the breakdown voltage of GaN Schottky rectifiers
was improved from 300 V to 1600 V for a 4 μm thick epitaxial
layer with doping concentration of 1 × 1014 cm−3 grown on a
N+ GaN substrate. The critical electric field for breakdown
extracted from these punch-through diode structures was
3.75 × 106 V cm−1. It is worth pointing out that this is
much larger than the critical electric field of 1.8 × 106 V
cm−1 at a doping concentration of 1 × 1014 cm−3 (see figure 4)
obtained for GaN using the impact ionization coefficients.
This difference is due to the very small depletion width of
4 μm where impact ionization occurs for the punch-through
structure when compared with a depletion width of 900 μm
for the nonpunch through structure represented in figure 4.
Using eqution (9), the projected ideal specific on-
resistance for GaN power MOSFETs at a breakdown voltage
of 600 V is found to be 0.0275 m cm2. Although the
projected drift region resistance is extremely small, it is
unfortunately overwhelmed by the specific on-resistance of
available GaN substrates (in the range of 2 m cm2). From
this observation, it can be concluded that vertical GaN power
devices will not be competitive with SiC devices until the GaN
substrate technology is substantially improved. Despite this
limitation, vertical FET structures have been reported on GaN
substrates using a ‘current aperture vertical electron transistor
(CAVET) structure’ [21, 22]. Although the basic functionality
of the FET structure has been demonstrated, these devices had
low blocking voltages (∼65 V) with relatively high specific
on-resistance (2.6 m cm2). Vertical GaN FETs are being
considered for automotive applications but their voltage ratings
are well below system requirements [23]. Consequently, most
of the focus of the development effort in academia and the
industry has been directed toward lateral GaN devices based
upon GaN layers grown on silicon substrates as discussed in
the next section.
Lateral HEMT figure-of-merit
The ability to grow high-quality gallium nitride layers
on silicon substrates has been a major technological
breakthrough. Due to the low cost of large diameter silicon
wafers, this has created the opportunity to develop high-
performance GaN power devices circumventing the road-
block of the high cost and small size of GaN substrates. In
addition, a powerful approach to achieving low on-resistance
has evolved based upon using the high electron mobility
transistor (HEMT) structure. The HEMT structure was first
developed for microwave applications using GaN layers grown
on high-resistivity SiC and sapphire substrates [24]. In the
HEMT structure shown in figure 7, an AlGaN layer is grown on
top of the GaN layer to create a large polarization effect which
produces a two-dimensional electron gas at the AlGaN/GaN
interface. A typical sheet carrier density of 1 × 1013 cm−2 with
an electron mobility of 2000 cm2 (V s)−1 has been reported in
the 2D-gas [25].
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011 Invited Review

The critical electric field for breakdown for the lateral HEMT
structure can be derived by performing the ionization integral
with a uniform electric field in the drift region with equation (5)
for the impact ionization coefficient. Equating the ionization
integral to unity yields
 1/6
6.667 × 1041
EC,L = . (15)
BV
The solution indicates that the critical electric field for
breakdown of a lateral HEMT structure will decrease
with increasing breakdown voltage. This is due to the
longer impact ionization path along the drift region with
increasing breakdown voltage. Combining equation (15) with
equation (10),
LD (HEMT) = 1.07 × 10−7 BV7/6 . (16)
Substituting this expression into equation (12),
Figure 7. GaN HEMT structure with ideal electric field distribution.
7.154 × 104 BV7/3
RON,SP (HEMT) = . (17)
μ QS
A simple analysis of the ultimate performance for the
lateral HEMT structure can be performed by assuming an Using the typical sheet carrier density of 1 × 1013 cm−2 with
idealized uniform electric field distribution along the x-axis an electron mobility of 2000 cm2 (V s)−1 reported in the 2D-gas
between the edge of the gate and the drain. The structure for the AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures yields
undergoes breakdown when the maximum electric field RON,SP (HEMT) = 3.577 × 10−12 BV7/3 . (18)
becomes equal to the critical electric field (EC,L) for breakdown It is worth pointing out that the power law relating the specific
in a structure with uniform electric field along the drift region. on-resistance to the breakdown voltage for a lateral HEMT
This critical electric field is different from the previously structure is different from that given by equation (9) for a
derived critical electric field for devices with triangular shaped vertical power FET structure.
electric field distribution as discussed later in this section. The The specific on-resistance for the lateral GaN HEMT
length of the drift region is given by structure is plotted in figure 6. The line corresponding to the
BV lateral GaN HEMT devices is not parallel to the lines for
LD (HEMT) = . (10)
EC,L the other vertical device structures shown in the figure. The
In order to obtain the ideal specific on-resistance for a lateral above analysis indicates that the ideal specific on-resistance
HEMT structure, only the resistance of the drift region is taken for lateral GaN HEMT devices is lower than that predicted
into account while neglecting the space occupied by the source, for the vertical GaN FET devices, and consequently superior
gate and drain contacts. The on-resistance of the drift region to 4H-SiC and Si devices as well. The lateral GaN HEMT
is given by structures are expected to have an ideal specific on-resistance
LD that is 1.88, 2.76 and 4.05-times smaller than for the vertical
RON (HEMT) = (11) GaN FET devices at breakdown voltages of 100, 1000 and
q μ QS Z
10 000 V, respectively.
where μ is the free carrier mobility in the 2D-gas, QS is
the sheet carrier density and Z is the width of the structure
orthogonal to the cross-section. The specific on-resistance for Lateral GaN HEMT devices
the lateral HEMT structure is obtained by multiplying the on-
AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures fabricated on GaN layers
resistance by the area (LD.Z):
grown on silicon substrates have attracted the most commercial
2
LD interest for power electronic applications in recent years due to
RON,SP (HEMT) = . (12)
q μ QS the prospects for creating a high-performance FET technology
Using equation (10) yields on a low-cost substrate. Companies that are pursuing this
approach include International Rectifier [26], MicroGaN [27],
BV2
RON,SP (HEMT) = . (13) Transphorm [28] and EPC [29]. Although the research effort
q μ QS EC,L
2
on GaN HFETs spans a broad range of blocking voltages,
The denominator of this equation serves as a figure-of-merit 600 V devices are considered an important target for solar
for lateral HEMT structures: inverters and motor drives for hybrid electric cars [30]. Several
reviews of the development activity for GaN HFETs have
BFOM (HEMT) = q μ QS EC,L
2
. (14)
been recently published [31, 32]. Most of the early work
The critical electric field for breakdown for the lateral HEMT has been focused on achieving high breakdown voltages
structure is a function of the breakdown voltage of the structure and preventing the current collapse phenomenon. This was
(as is also the case for the vertical power FET structures). achieved by using gate and source connected field plates as

5
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011
Figure 8. Improved GaN HEMT structures.
illustrated in the structure on the left-hand side of figure 8 [33].
Normally on or depletion-mode devices with blocking voltage
of 1.3 kV were successfully fabricated with a maximum
current of 120 amperes and a specific on-resistance of
5.2 m cm2. Although an excellent low specific on-resistance
was achieved when compared with silicon devices, it is 2 orders
of magnitude above the ideal specific on-resistance predicted
by the analysis in the previous section indicating room for
further improvements. For example, the gate-to-drain length
used for these devices was 15 μm when compared with only
3.4 μm for the ideal case indicating that there is opportunity
to make the electric field more uniform along the drift
region. Promising approaches that have been proposed and
demonstrated to increase the breakdown voltage are a greater
buffer layer thickness [34] and source vias to ground the silicon
substrate [35].
For power electronic applications, it is essential that
transistors have a normally off or enhancement-mode
characteristic to prevent shoot-through problems during circuit
power up. Since the basic AlGaN/GaN HFET structure has a
normally on or depletion mode characteristic, modifications
have been proposed to move the threshold voltage from
negative to positive values. One of the methods to achieve
normally off behavior in the AlGaN/GaN HFETs is to make a
‘recessed-gate’ structure as illustrated on the left-hand side of
figure 8. The typical thickness for the AlGaN layer is 20 nm.
In order to obtain a zero threshold voltage, it is necessary to
reduce the AlGaN layer under the gate to only 5 nm [36]. The
recess process must not only accurately reduce the AlGaN
layer thickness but must be uniform across the wafer. 580 V
HFETs have been fabricated with AlGaN layer thickness of
only 2 nm [37] with zero threshold voltage and a specific
on-resistance of 1.25 m cm2. A 600 V HFET with a positive
threshold voltage of 0.8 V and specific on-resistance of 2.8 m
cm2 has also been reported by using a recessed-gate structure
with NiOx gate material [38]. These results are far superior to
the specific on-resistance of 100 m cm2 for the typical 600 V
silicon power MOSFET and 30 m cm2 for the 600 V silicon
COOLMOS technology [4]. However, the threshold voltages
of these HFETs are too low for secure operation in power
circuits.
6
Invited Review
Another approach taken to achieve a normally off
AlGaN/GaN HFET device is to use the recessed MOS
gate structure illustrated on the right-hand side of figure 8.
Furukawa Electric has reported 500 V, 70-A devices with a
positive threshold voltage of 2.8 V in 2009 [39] with specific
on-resistance of 16 m cm2. These structures utilized a
p-type magnesium-doped GaN layer. Subsequently, 600 V,
100-A normally off AlGaN/GaN HFET devices with a
threshold voltage of 2.7 V and specific on-resistance of 9.3 m
cm2 have been reported by this group in 2010 [40]. Although
these results are very promising, the specific on-resistance for
the AlGaN/GaN MOS-HFET structures remains substantially
larger than that for normally on AlGaN/GaN HFET structures
with the same blocking voltage.
Hybrid GaN/Si devices
In the 1990s, the development of power MOSFETs from
silicon carbide was stymied by poor mobility for electrons
in inversion layers and catastrophic failure of devices due to
high electric fields generated in the gate oxide [10]. Better
progress was made on the development of high-voltage JFET
structures with low specific on-resistance but these devices
had normally on characteristics. The Baliga–Pair configuration
[41], named after the inventor analogous to the Darlington–
Pair [42], was proposed to address these problems. The concept
was first reported in the literature in 1996 [43]. In the Baliga–
Pair configuration, a high-voltage normally on SiC JFET or
MESFET structure is paired with a low-voltage normally off Si
power MOSFET to create a composite three-terminal device
as shown in figure 9. In the Baliga–Pair configuration, the
source of the high-voltage FET is connected to the drain of
the Si power MOSFET and the gate of the high-voltage FET
is connected to the source of the Si power MOSFET which
serves as the ground or reference terminal. The device can
be controlled by biasing the gate of the Si power MOSFET
while the drain of the high-voltage FET is connected to the
load and the output power source. If the SiC JFET/MESFET
is designed with a pinch-off voltage of 20 V, a 30 V Si
power MOSFET with very low on-resistance can be used in
this circuit while very high voltages can be controlled via
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011
Figure 9. The Baliga–Pair device configuration.
the high-voltage JFET/MESFET. The circuit provides the
benefits of high blocking voltage capability with very low
specific on-resistance, excellent switching behavior and wide
safe-operating-area characteristics [2, 10]. Although these
references discuss the use of a normally on high-voltage SiC
JFET, it is obvious that the idea would work well with a
normally on high-voltage FET made from any other material.
The Baliga–Pair concept has been experimentally
validated by extensive work done by Siemens [44, 45] using
their planar-gate vertical SiC JFET technology. These authors
refer to the Baliga–Pair configuration as a ‘cascode circuit’.
This is a misnomer because the term cascode has been
previously used to describe an analog circuit where one bipolar
transistor serves as the load for a second bipolar transistor to
increase the output resistance [46]. Neither bipolar transistor is
normally on in these circuits. In contrast, a normally on high-
voltage FET made from wide band gap material is controlled
by a silicon power MOSFET in the Baliga–Pair circuit.
As discussed previously, currently normally on high-
voltage AlGaN/GaN FET structures have the best specific
on-resistance. Consequently, the Baliga–Pair circuit with
a normally on high-voltage AlGaN/GaN HFET and a
low-voltage Si power MOSFET is considered the most
commercially viable solution at this time [27–29]. With this
approach, very high efficiencies have been demonstrated for a
dc to dc boost circuit operating at 100 kHz with 220 V at the
input [47].
Conclusions
This paper provides a review of GaN-based devices for power
electronic applications. Recent measurements of the impact
ionization coefficients for holes and electrons in GaN confirm
and quantify the larger critical electric field for breakdown
for this material when compared with Si and SiC. Using the
impact ionization data, analytical models for the breakdown
voltage and the ideal specific on-resistance for the drift region
of vertical power devices have been derived. The ideal specific
on-resistance for vertical GaN devices is found to be 1.78-
times smaller than that for 4H-SiC and 2130-times smaller
than that for silicon at all breakdown voltages. The prospects
for vertical GaN power devices fabricated from GaN substrates
is hindered by the high-resistivity, small size and high cost of
the substrates.
7
Invited Review
The demonstration of high-quality GaN layers on silicon
substrates has created the opportunity to create a high-
performance power device technology that is potentially less
expensive than silicon carbide devices. Normally on high-
voltage AlGaN/GaN HFETs have been demonstrated with
nearly 2 orders of magnitude smaller specific on-resistance
when compared to silicon devices with the same blocking
voltage capability. Although normally off high-voltage HFETs
have also been demonstrated, their specific on-resistance is
much larger than for the normally on structures. Consequently,
most commercial manufacturers are using a normally on high-
voltage AlGaN/GaN HFET with a low-voltage silicon power
MOSFET in the Baliga–Pair configuration to produce a high-
performance normally off high-voltage power switch for solar
inverter and motor drive applications.
One barrier to commercial viability of GaN-based HEMT
power devices is their reliability. Degradation of the output
characteristics and on-resistance of AlGaN/GaN HEMT
structures has been reported due to hot electron induced charge
trapping [48]. The generation of traps has been ascribed
to strain produced in the AlGaN layer due to the inverse
piezoelectric effect [49] resulting from the high electric field
at the edge of the gate electrode. The electric field at the gate
edge can be reduced by using field plates as already described
in the paper. An alternative approach that is being explored
is the InAlN/GaN HEMT structure which has been projected
to have two to three times superior quantum well polarization
induced charge [50]. The projections have been validated by
several recent experimental results [51–53] for GaN grown
on 4H-SiC and sapphire. This work needs to be extended to
silicon substrates to make the technology cost effective.
References
[1] Baliga B J 1988 Evolution of MOS-bipolar power
semiconductor technology Proc. IEEE 74 409–18
[2] Baliga B J 2008 Fundamentals of Power Semiconductor
Devices (New York: Springer-Science)
[3] Baliga B J 2009 Advanced Power Rectifier Concepts (New
York: Springer-Science)
[4] Baliga B J 2010 Advanced Power MOSFET Concepts (New
York: Springer-Science)
[5] Baliga B J 2011 Advanced High Voltage Power Device
Concepts (New York: Springer-Science)
[6] Baliga B J 1982 Semiconductors for high voltage vertical
channel field effect transistors J. Appl. Phys. 53 1759–64
[7] Campbell P M et al 1982 150-V vertical channel GaAs FET
IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting 258–60 Abstract 10.4
[8] Baliga B J et al 1985 Gallium Arsenide Schottky power
rectifiers IEEE Trans. Electron Devices ED-32 1130–4
[9] Bhatnagar M et al 1992 Silicon carbide high-voltage (400 V)
Schottky barrier diodes IEEE Electron Device Lett.
EDL-13 501–3
[10] Baliga B J 2006 Silicon Carbide Power Devices (Singapore:
World Scientific Publishers)
[11] Denbaars S P 1997 Gallium-nitride-based materials for blue
and ultraviolet optoelectronic devices Proc. IEEE
85 1740–9
[12] Mishra U K, Parikh P and Wu Y F 2002 AlGaN/GaN
HEMTs—an overview of device operation and applications
Proc. IEEE 90 1022–31
[13] Ozbek A M Measurement of impact ionization coefficients in
GaN PhD Thesis North Carolina State University
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28 (2013) 074011
[14] Ozbek A M and Baliga B J 2011 Planar, nearly-ideal
edge-termination technique for GaN devices IEEE Electron
Device Lett. 32 300–2
[15] Ozbek A M and Baliga B J 2011 Measurement of impact
ionization coefficients for GaN Solid State Electron.
Submitted for publication December
[16] Chynoweth A G 1960 Uniform silicon p-n junctions. II.
ionization rates for electrons J. Appl. Phys. 31 1161–5
[17] Fulop W 1967 Calculation of avalanche breakdown of silicon
P-N junctions Solid State Electron. 10 39–43
[18] Zhang A P et al 2003 GaN and AlGaN high voltage power
rectifiers ed F Ren and J C Zolper Wide Energy Bandgap
Electronics (Singapore: World Scientific Publishers)
chapter 2
[19] Laroche J R et al 2005 Design of edge terminations for GaN
power Schottky diodes J. Electron. Mater. 34 370–4
[20] Ozbek A M and Baliga B J 2011 Finite-zone, argon implant,
edge termination for high-voltage GaN Schottky rectifiers
IEEE Electron Device Lett. 32 1361–3
[21] Ben-Yaacov I et al 2004 AlGaN/GaN current aperture vertical
electron transistors with regrown channels J Appl. Phys.
95 2073–8
[22] Kanechika M et al 2007 A vertical insulated gate AlGaN/GaN
heterojunction field-effect transistor Japan. J. Appl. Phys.
46 L503–L5
[23] Uesugi T and Kachi T 2009 GaN power switching devices for
automotive applications CS MANTECH Conf. (May 2009)
Paper 2.1
[24] Karmalkar S, Shur M S and Gaska R 2003 GaN-based power
high electron mobility transistors Wide Energy Bandgap
Electronics ed F Ren and J C Zolper (Singapore: World
Scientific Publishers) chapter 3
[25] Cordier Y et al 2008 Demonstration of AlGaN/GaN
high-electron-mobility transistors grown by molecular
beam epitaxy on Si(110) IEEE Electron Device Lett.
29 1187–9
[26] GaNpowIR Update International Rectifier 2011 IEEE Applied
Power Electronics Conference
[27] 2011 MicroGaN takes nitride transistors into the third
dimension Compd. Semicond.
www.compoundsemiconductor.net/csc/
[28] Conner M 2011 Transphorm: GaN-based power devices prove
their worth at higher voltages Electron. Des. News
http://www.edn.com/
[29] Beach R 2010 Master the fundamentals of your Gallium nitride
power transistors Electron. Des. http://www.edn.com/
[30] Parikh P and Blake C 2012 Transphorm hits hard 600 V target
Power Devices issue 4 12–13
[31] Yanagihara M et al 2009 Recent advances in GaN transistors
for future emerging applications Phys. Status Solidi A
206 1221–7
[32] Ikeda N et al 2010 GaN power transistors on Si substrates for
switching applications Proc. IEEE 98 1151–61
[33] Ikeda N et al 2008 High-power GaN HFETs on Si substrate
Furukawa Rev. 34 17–23
[34] Rowena I B, Sevaraj S L and Egawa T 2011 Buffer thickness
contribution to suppress vertical leakage current with high
Invited Review
breakdown field (2.3 MV/cm) for GaN on Si IEEE
Electron Device Lett. 32 1534–6
[35] Hikita M et al 2005 AlGaN/GaN power HFET on silicon
substrate with source-Via grounding (SVG) structure IEEE
Trans. Electron Devices 52 1963–8
[36] Ikeda N et al 2006 A novel GaN device with thin AlGaN/GaN
Heterostructure for high-power applications Furukawa Rev.
29 1–6
[37] Medjdoub F et al 2010 Low on-resistance high-breakdown
normally-off AlN/GaN/AlGaN DHFET on Si substrate
IEEE Electron Device Lett. 31 111–3
[38] Kaneko N et al 2009 Normally-on AlGaN/GaN HFETs using
NiOx gate with recess IEEE Int. Symp. on Power
Semiconductor Devices and ICs pp 25–28
[39] Kambayashi H et al 2009 Enhancement-mode GaN hybrid
MOS-HFETs on Si substrates with over 70-A operation
IEEE Int. Symp. on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs
pp 21–24
[40] Kambayashi H et al 2010 Over 100-A operation normally-Off
AlGaN/GaN Hybrid MOS-HFET on Si substrate with high
breakdown voltage Solid-State Electron. 54 660–4
[41] Baliga B J 1995 Silicon carbide switching device with
rectifying gate US Patent No. 5,396,085
[42] Darlington S 1953 Semiconductor signal translating device US
Patent No. 2,663,806
[43] Baliga B J 1996 Power Semiconductor Devices (New York:
PWS Publishing Company)
[44] Mitlehner H et al 1999 Dynamic characteristics of high
voltage 4H-SiC vertical JFETs IEEE Int. Symp. on
Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs pp 339–42
Paper 11.1
[45] Friedrichs P et al 2000 Static and dynamic characteristics of
4H-SiC JFETs designed for different blocking categories
Mater. Sci. Forum 338–342 1243–6
[46] Gray P R and Meyer R G 1977 Analysis and Design of Analog
Integrated Circuits (New York: Wiley) pp 155–8 Section
3.3.2
[47] Blake C 2011 GaN transistors reach the 600-V operation
plateau Power Electron. Technol. Mag. (June) 38–41
[48] Kim H et al 2001 Degradation characteristics of AlGaN/GaN
high electron mobility transistors IEEE Int. Reliability
Physics Symp. pp 214–9
[49] Joh J and del Alamo J A 2006 Mechanisms for electrical
degradation of GaN high-electron mobility transistors IEEE
Int. Electron Devices Meet. 1–4
[50] Kuzmik J 2001 Power electronics on InAlN/(In)GaN:
prospect for a record performance IEEE Electron Device
Lett. 22 510–2
[51] Kohn E and Medjdoub F 2007 InAlN—a new barrier material
for GaN-based HEMTs IEEE Int. Workshop on Physics of
Semiconductor Devices pp 311–6
[52] Zhou Q et al 2012 Schottky source/drain InAlN/AlN/GaN
MISHEMT with enhanced breakdown voltage IEEE
Electron Device Lett. 33 38–40
[53] Lee H-S et al 2012 3000-V 4.3-mW cm2 InAlN/GaN
MOSHEMTs with AlGaN back barrier IEEE Electron
Device Lett. 33 982–4