Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound semiconductor that has tremendous potential to facilitate economic growth in a semiconductor industry that is silicon-based and currently faced with diminishing returns of performance versus cost of investment. At a material level, its high electric field strength and electron mobility have already shown tremendous potential for high frequency communications and photonic applications. Advances in growth on commercially viable large area substrates are now at the point where power conversion applications of GaN are at the cusp of commercialisation. The future for building on the work described here in ways driven by specific challenges emerging from entirely new markets and applications is very exciting. This collection of GaN technology developments is therefore not itself a road map but a valuable collection of global state-of-the-art GaN research that will inform the next phase of the technology as market driven requirements evolve. First generation production devices are igniting large new markets and applications that can only be achieved using the advantages of higher speed, low specific resistivity and low saturation switching transistors. Major investments are being made by industrial companies in a wide variety of markets exploring the use of the technology in new circuit topologies, packaging solutions and system architectures that are required to achieve and optimise the system advantages offered by GaN transistors. It is this momentum that will drive priorities for the next stages of device research gathered here.

/pdf/the-2018-gan-power-electronics-roadmap-2iunv619fh.pdf

The 2018 GaN power electronics roadmap

Gallium nitride (GaN) devices are revolutionarily advancing the efficiency, frequency, and form factor of power electronics. However, the material composition, architecture and physics of many GaN devices are significantly different from silicon and silicon carbide devices. These distinctions result in many unique stability, reliability and robustness issues facing GaN power devices. This paper reviews the current understanding of these issues, particularly those related to dynamic switching, and their impacts on system performance. Instead of delving into reliability physics, this paper intends to provide power electronics engineers the necessary information for deploying GaN devices in existing and emerging applications, as well as provide references for the qualification evaluations of GaN power devices. The issues covered in this paper include the dynamic instability of device parameters (e.g., on-resistance, threshold voltage, output capacitance), the device robustness in avalanche, overvoltage and short-circuit conditions, the device's switching reliability and lifetime, as well as the device's ruggedness under radiation and extreme (cryogenic and elevated) temperatures. Knowledge gaps and immediate research opportunities in the relevant fields are also discussed. 

/pdf/stability-reliability-and-robustness-of-gan-power-devices-a-1215ffjk.pdf

Stability, Reliability, and Robustness of GaN Power Devices: A Review

Gallium nitride (GaN) devices are revolutionarily advancing the efficiency, frequency, and form factor of power electronics. However, the material composition, architecture, and physics of many GaN devices are significantly different from silicon and silicon carbide devices. These distinctions result in many unique stability, reliability, and robustness issues facing GaN power devices. This article reviews the current understanding of these issues, particularly those related to dynamic switching, and their impacts on system performance. Instead of delving into reliability physics, this article intends to provide power electronics’ engineers the necessary information for deploying GaN devices in the existing and emerging applications, as well as provide references for the qualification evaluations of GaN power devices. The issues covered in this article include the dynamic instability of device parameters (e.g., on-resistance, threshold voltage, and output capacitance), the device robustness in avalanche, overvoltage and short-circuit conditions, the device's switching reliability and lifetime, as well as the device's ruggedness under radiation and extreme (cryogenic and elevated) temperatures. Knowledge gaps and immediate research opportunities in the relevant fields are also discussed.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielx7/63/4359240/10098926.pdf

This article critically reviews the architectural novelties, emerging materials (substrate, buffer, barrier & contact materials), technological advancements, processing techniques adopted, geometrical influences & challenges during fabrication, and driving reliability aspects of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (AG-HEMTs) that are gaining rapid & progressive adoption as a semiconductor device of outrival choice for high power & RF frequency applications, due to exceptional material-properties of the heterostructure. The device has matured in the last decade reaching ID(drain current) up to 1940 mA/mm, gm(transconductance) up to 556 mS/mm, fT(cut-off frequency) up to 200 GHz, fmax (maximum oscillation frequency) up to 308 GHz and Vbr (breakdown voltage) up to 2900 V. The impact of various barrier and buffer materials, contact technologies, annealing process and temperature, passivation and etching techniques on the RF & DC performance of AG-HEMTs is presented in this paper. An assessment of the influence of irradiation effects, underlying degradation mechanisms, and associated reliability aspects is also included, which helps to exploit the potential of AG-HEMTs in space technology. AG-HEMTs stood a step ahead of conventional devices due to their exceptional material properties and enjoy a diverse range of applications like radar, satellite communication, telecommunication, sensors, space and aeronautics, microwave & millimeter-wave devices, and wireless infrastructures and many more. 

Recent developments in materials, architectures and processing of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for future RF and power electronic applications: A critical review

A unique three-step short-circuit protection method is proposed for the 650-V enhancement mode (E-mode) gallium nitride high-electron mobility transistor (GaN HEMT). This method can quickly detect the short-circuit event, reduce gate voltage to enhance the device short-circuit capability, and turn off the device under fault after confirmation. Experimental results prove that with this method, the short-circuit fault detection time for E-mode GaN HEMT is shortened from 2  μ s to several tens of nanoseconds, and the device can be successfully protected from fatal failure under high dc bus voltage without mistriggering.

A Reliable Ultrafast Short-Circuit Protection Method for E-Mode GaN HEMT

In this study, we investigate the threshold voltage ( ${V} _{{{ \text {th}}}}$ ) instability of p-gate GaN HEMTs induced by gate bias. Experimental results are acquired by a custom pulse setup for two commercially available devices with an ohmic gate and a Schottky gate. A transient drain current change is observed, which corresponds to a shift of ${V} _{{{ \text {th}}}}$ . A negative ${V} _{{{ \text {th}}}}$ instability is identified for the ohmic gate, a mostly positive for the Schottky gate that can also become negative depending on the gate bias voltage and duration. The impact of the gate-bias-induced ${V} _{{{ \text {th}}}}$ instability on the Schottky-gate device is significantly higher compared to the ohmic-gate device, but clearly noticeable at the nominal rated ON-state gate voltage for both devices. Electron depletion and trapping as well as hole accumulation and trapping are identified to cause this transient ${V} _{{{ \text {th}}}}$ instability.

Gate-Induced Threshold Voltage Instabilities in p-Gate GaN HEMTs

Electrical and thermal failure modes of 600 V p-gate GaN HEMTs

Short-circuit withstand capability is one of the key elements when it comes to the selection of semiconductor power devices in different mainstream power electronics applications (i.e industrial, e-mobility etc). Alongside the single pulse SC robustness, aging of power devices is also of concern when subjected to repetitive SC stress since devices may experience such transient events relatively quite frequently during their lifetime. This paper investigates the effect of repetitive short-circuit robustness on 600 V rated commercially available GaN gate injection transistors (GITs). In particular, monitors of device degradation as stress accumulates on the device under test (DUT) have been reiterated in this paper. Moreover, the effect of SC energy and the applied drain-source bias (V DS ) during SC have also been investigated. Lastly, de-capsulation of the degraded devices were also performed for microscopic analysis.

Damage accumulation in GaN GITs exposed to repetitive short-circuit

In this study, the impact and correlation of drain- and gate-voltage stress on the threshold voltage of commercially available p-gate GaN HEMTs are investigated. This is based on single-pulse measurements acquired with a custom pulse setup, thus the transient behavior can be determined and subsequently translated into dc characteristics. As a novelty, measurements of the threshold voltage for short-circuit stress of up to 600 V are shown. As a result, a constant threshold voltage shift is observed for on-state drain-voltage stress, while off-state drain-voltage and gate-voltage stress lead to a threshold voltage instability. Finally, drain stress and gate stress appears to superimpose, consequently already application-relevant gate-driving conditions show a drastic impact of the short-circuit capability.

Threshold Voltage Behavior and Short-Circuit Capability of p-Gate GaN HEMTs Depending on Drain- and Gate-Voltage Stress

A measurement methodology is introduced to identify the characteristics of carrier accumulation in p-gate GaN HEMTs. To analyse the influence of the gate- and drain-biasing independently, the DUT is operated in a half-bridge configuration. Thereby, the gate can be charged prior to the onset of the drain-current. The impact can be observed in the transient drain-current behavior. Two commercially available 650 V-class devices are evaluated. To achieve enhancement-mode operation one of the devices utilizes a layer of p-AlGaN, while the other uses p-GaN. For both devices the time-, voltage- and current-dependencies of carrier accumulation are investigated.

Impact of Carrier Accumulation on the Transient Behavior of p-Gate GaN HEMTs

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