Ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor Ga ₂O ₃ power diodes

Abstract

Ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor Ga ₂O ₃ based electronic devices are expected to perform beyond wide bandgap counterparts GaN and SiC. However, the reported power figure-of-merit hardly can exceed, which is far below the projected Ga ₂O ₃ material limit. Major obstacles are high breakdown voltage requires low doping material and PN junction termination, contradicting with low specific on-resistance and simultaneous achieving of n- and p-type doping, respectively. In this work, we demonstrate that Ga ₂O ₃ heterojunction PN diodes can overcome above challenges. By implementing the holes injection in the Ga ₂O ₃, bipolar transport can induce conductivity modulation and low resistance in a low doping Ga ₂O ₃ material. Therefore, breakdown voltage of 8.32 kV, specific on-resistance of 5.24 mΩ⋅cm ², power figure-of-merit of 13.2 GW/cm ², and turn-on voltage of 1.8 V are achieved. The power figure-of-merit value surpasses the 1-D unipolar limit of GaN and SiC. Those Ga ₂O ₃ power diodes demonstrate their great potential for next-generation power electronics applications.

Abstract

The simultaneous achievement of high breakdown voltage and low resistance is a contradictory point because it would require high and low doping simultaneously. Here, Zhou et al. achieve a power figure-of-merit of 13.2 GW/cm2 through hole injection and conductivity modulation effect.