True Breakdown Voltage and Overvoltage Margin of GaN Power HEMTs in Hard Switching

Kozak, Joseph P.; Zhang, Ruizhe; Song, Qihao; Liu, Jingcun; Saito, Wataru; Zhang, Yuhao

doi:10.1109/led.2021.3063360

True Breakdown Voltage and Overvoltage Margin of GaN Power HEMTs in Hard Switching

Journal Article · Mon Mar 01 23:00:00 EST 2021 · IEEE Electron Device Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/led.2021.3063360· OSTI ID:2441248

^[1]; ^[2]; Song, Qihao ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[2]

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan)

This work studies the dynamic breakdown voltage (BV) and overvoltage margin of a 650-V-rated commercial GaN power HEMT in hard switching. The dynamic BV measured in the hard switching circuits is over 1.4 kV, being 450 V higher than the static BV measured in the quasi-static I-V sweep. The device can survive at least 1 million hard-switching overvoltage pulses with 1.33 kV peak overvoltage (~95% dynamic BV). Recoverable device parametric shifts are observed after the 1-million pulses, featuring small reductions in threshold voltage and on-resistance. These shifts are different from the ones after the hard-switching pulses without overvoltage and are attributable to the trapping of the holes produced in impact ionization. Furthermore, these results suggest that the BV and overvoltage margin of GaN HEMTs in practical power switching can be significantly underestimated using the static BV. Index Terms— GaN, HEMT, power electronics, hard switching, breakdown voltage, overvoltage, ruggedness, reliability.

Research Organization:: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0006521

OSTI ID:: 2441248

Journal Information:: IEEE Electron Device Letters, Journal Name: IEEE Electron Device Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 42; ISSN 0741-3106

Publisher:: IEEECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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42 ENGINEERING
GaN
HEMT
breakdown voltage
hard switching
overvoltage
power electronics
ruggedness

True Breakdown Voltage and Overvoltage Margin of GaN Power HEMTs in Hard Switching

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