Current Trends in the Development of Normally- OFF GaN-on-Si Power Transistors and Power Modules: A Review
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08284-7 Ó 2020 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
INTERNATIONAL ELECTRON DEVICES AND MATERIALS SYMPOSIUM 2019
Current Trends in the Development of Normally-OFF GaN-on-Si Power Transistors and Power Modules: A Review NAMJEE KIM ,1,2 JINGSHU YU,1 WEIJIA ZHANG,1 ROPHINA LI,1 MENGQI WANG,1 and WAI TUNG NG1,3 1.—The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King’s College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G4, Canada. 2.—e-mail: [email protected]. 3.—e-mail: [email protected]
Gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors have attracted significant interest in the power electronics industry over the past decade as the next-generation power semiconductor devices. GaN power transistors are suitable for high power and high frequency applications due to their higher electron mobility, temperature tolerance, electrical conductivity, critical breakdown electric field, and breakdown voltage compared to the conventional silicon-based transistors and other wide bandgap (WBG) power transistors. In particular, GaN-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology has opened up the possibility of manufacturing high-performance, low-cost WBG power devices in silicon-compatible fabrication facilities. The first GaN power transistor structure to be developed was the normally-ON depletion mode (D-mode) device. It relies on the highly mobile two-dimension electron gas (2DEG) at the GaN/AlGaN epitaxial layers’ interface to provide very low on-resistance. The normallyOFF enhancement mode (E-mode) GaN power transistor soon became available by controlling the 2DEG using various gate structures. This paper provides a review of the developments of GaN power transistors followed by a survey on current state-of-the-art GaN power technologies and applications, including comparisons between GaN growth substrates and developments of enhancement mode (E-mode) device structures and their process techniques. Moreover, developments of power module designs are also addressed, including gate driver designs and their requirements, and packaging techniques for power transistors and power modules. Key words: GaN power transistors, GaN power devices, GaN power modules, integrated power electronics, smart power ICs, power device packaging, wide bandgap semiconductor devices
INTRODUCTION Power semiconductor devices require high voltage and high current handling capabilities to process electrical energy efficiently.1 Examples of power semiconductor device applications include energy
(Received January 8, 2020; accepted June 15, 2020)
conversions,2 amplifications, and electric drives.3 Modern power transistors include metal–oxide– semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), merged MOS-bipolar hybrid devices such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and wide bandgap (WBG) power transistors.1 Power MOSFETs and IGBTs are mainly fabricated on traditional silicon (Si) substrates, while WBG power transistors are built on a WBG material grown on top of base substrate materi
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