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Performance and breakdown characteristics of irradiated vertical power GaN P-i-N diodes

Journal Article · · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science

Electrical performance and defect characterization of vertical GaN P-i-N diodes before and after irradiation with 2.5 MeV protons and neutrons is investigated. Devices exhibit increase in specific on-resistance following irradiation with protons and neutrons, indicating displacement damage introduces defects into the p-GaN and n- drift regions of the device that impact on-state device performance. The breakdown voltage of these devices, initially above 1700 V, is observed to decrease only slightly for particle fluence <; 1013 cm-2. Furthermore, the unipolar figure of merit for power devices indicates that while the on-resistance and breakdown voltage degrade with irradiation, vertical GaN P-i-Ns remain superior to the performance of the best available, unirradiated silicon devices and on-par with unirradiated modern SiC-based power devices.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1239987
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1531054
Report Number(s):
SAND--2015-5786J; 618536
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 62; ISSN 0018-9499
Publisher:
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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