Normally-off High-Voltage p-GaN Gate GaN HFET with Carbon-Doped Buffer

Published in:
Proc. Int. Symp. on Power Semiconductor Devices & IC's (ISPSD), San Diego, CA, May 23-26, pp. 239-242 (2011).
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Abstract:
Normally-off GaN transistors for power applications in p-type GaN gate technology with a modified carbon-doped GaN buffer are presented. A combination of an AlGaN backbarrier with the carbon-doped buffer prevents early off-state punch-through. Simultaneously, the on-state resistance could be kept low and the threshold voltage with 1.1 V high enough for secure normally-off operation. 1000 V breakdown strength has been obtained for devices with 6 µm gate-drain spacing. The resulting breakdown scaling slope is 170 V/µm gate-drain distance. The on-state resistance is 7.4 Ωmm. The resulting V_Brto- R_ONA ratio (1000 V, 0.62 mΩcm²) is beyond so far reported ratios for normally-off GaN transistors. Modifications of the ptype GaN layer have shown to additionally increase the threshold voltage by 0.4 V without paying a price in the on-state resistance of the device.

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