High Power Figure-of-Merit, 10.6-kV AlGaN/GaN Lateral Schottky Barrier Diode with Single Channel and Sub-100-µm Anode-to-Cathode Spacing

Abstract

GaN-based lateral Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) have attracted great attention for high-power applications due to its combined high electron mobility and large critical breakdown field. However, the breakdown voltage (BV) of the SBDs are far from exploiting the material advantages of GaN at present, limiting the desire to use GaN for ultra-high voltage (UHV) applications. Then, a golden question is whether the excellent properties of GaN-based materials can be practically used in the UHV field? Here, UHV AlGaN/GaN SBDs are demonstrated on sapphire with a BV of 10.6 kV, a specific on-resistance (R_ON,SP ) of 25.8 mΩ cm² , yielding a power figure-of-merit (P-FOM = BV² /R_ON,SP ) of 4.35 GW cm^-2 . These devices are designed with single channel and 85-µm anode-to-cathode spacing, without other additional electric field management, demonstrating its great potential for the UHV application in power electronics.

Keywords: AlGaN/GaN lateral Schottcky diode; power semiconductor devices; ultra-high voltage.