Evaluation of a “Field Cage” for Electric Field Control in GaN-Based HEMTs That Extends the Scalability of Breakdown Into the kV Regime

Journal Article · Wed Aug 16 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/ted.2017.2729544· OSTI ID:1399503

Tierney, Brian D. ^[1]; Choi, Sukwon ^[2]; DasGupta, Sandeepan ^[3]; Dickerson, Jeramy R. ^[1]; Reza, Shahed ^[1]; Kaplar, Robert J. ^[1]; Baca, Albert G. ^[1]; Marinella, Matthew J. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
3. Intel Corporation, Boise, ID (United States)

A distributed impedance “field cage” structure is proposed and evaluated for electric field control in GaN-based, lateral high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) operating as kilovolt-range power devices. In this structure, a resistive voltage divider is used to control the electric field throughout the active region. The structure complements earlier proposals utilizing floating field plates that did not employ resistively connected elements. Transient results, not previously reported for field plate schemes using either floating or resistively connected field plates, are presented for ramps of dV_ds /dt = 100 V/ns. For both DC and transient results, the voltage between the gate and drain is laterally distributed, ensuring the electric field profile between the gate and drain remains below the critical breakdown field as the source-to-drain voltage is increased. Our scheme indicates promise for achieving breakdown voltage scalability to a few kV.

• 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: 1399503
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1399881
• Report Number(s): SAND--2017-6267J; SAND2016-12707J; 654451
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 64; ISSN 0018-9383
• Publisher: IEEE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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