Implanted Guard Ring Edge Termination With Avalanche Capability for Vertical GaN Devices

Wang, Yifan; Porter, Matthew; Xiao, Ming; Lu, Albert; Yee, Nathan; Kravchenko, Ivan; Srijanto, Bernadeta; Cheng, Kai; Wong, Hiu Yung; Zhang, Yuhao

doi:10.1109/ted.2023.3321010

Title: Implanted Guard Ring Edge Termination With Avalanche Capability for Vertical GaN Devices

Journal Article · 12 October 2023 · IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ted.2023.3321010 · OSTI ID:2320379

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Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
San Jose State Univ., CA (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Enkris Semiconductor Inc., Suzhou (China)

Edge termination is the key building block in power devices to enable near-ideal, avalanche breakdown voltage (BV). Here, this work presents the design, fabrication, and physics of a GaN guard ring (GR) edge termination formed by selective-area nitrogen implantation through an epitaxial p-GaN layer. The fabrication of this termination only includes a single implantation step that does not require precise control of implant depth, rendering a large process latitude. The selective-area implantation produces p-GaN rings that are separated by the implanted, semi-insulating regions. The number and spacing of the p-type rings are found to determine the BV of the vertical GaN p-n diode. The 16-ring structure enables a BV of 1800 V, being 88% of the theoretical 1-D parallel-plane limit. Avalanche characteristics are observed in devices with a large variety of GR designs. Finally, we present a comprehensive survey on the efficiency, fabrication complexity, real estate, and avalanche capability of various edge termination techniques that have been reported in vertical GaN devices. The high efficiency (among the highest reported in avalanche-capable GaN terminations), simple and robust fabrication process, and uniform avalanche capability make this implanted GR a promising edge termination for high-voltage GaN devices.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 2320379

Journal Information:: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 71; ISSN 0018-9383

Publisher:: IEEECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Robust Avalanche in 1.7 kV Vertical GaN Diodes With a Single-Implant Bevel Edge Termination Xiao, Ming; Wang, Yifan; Zhang, Ruizhe IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1109/led.2023.3302312	journal	October 2023
Design and Fabrication of Vertical GaN p-n Diode With Step-Etched Triple-Zone Junction Termination Extension Lee, Hyun-Soo; Zhang, Yuxuan; Chen, Zhaoying IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 67, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1109/ted.2020.3007133	journal	September 2020
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Planar Nearly Ideal Edge-Termination Technique for GaN Devices Ozbek, A. Merve; Baliga, B. Jayant IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 32, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/LED.2010.2095825	journal	March 2011
Stability, Reliability, and Robustness of GaN Power Devices: A Review Kozak, Joseph Peter; Zhang, Ruizhe; Porter, Matthew IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 38, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2023.3266365	journal	July 2023
Demonstration of >6.0-kV Breakdown Voltage in Large Area Vertical GaN p-n Diodes With Step-Etched Junction Termination Extensions Yates, Luke; Gunning, Brendan P.; Crawford, Mary H. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 69, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2022.3154665	journal	April 2022