On the impact of current generation commercial gallium nitride power transistors on power converter loss

Petersen, A.; Stone, D.A.; Foster, M. P.

doi:10.1049/el.2017.3183

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…[1] GaN, other III-nitrides and their alloys are the preferred material system for next-generation electronic devices, realizing the needs of advanced communication systems, power conversion and energy conservation, thus enabling compact and affordable electronic systems. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The wide-bandgap of GaN (~3.4eV) enables devices with higher breakdown voltages, and the built-in polarization fields in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures lead to a very high mobility and charge in two-dimensional electron-gases (2DEG). [11,12] But, to tap into the versatility of this materials system, complementary MOS (CMOS) circuits based on GaN and its alloys are desired.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AlGaN/GaN Superlattice‐Based p‐Type Field‐Effect Transistor with Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Treatment

Krishna

Raj

Hatui

et al. 2019

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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To realize the full spectrum of advantages that the III-nitride materials system offers, the demonstration of p-channel III-nitride based devices is valuable. Authors report the first ptype field effect transistor (pFET) based on an AlGaN/GaN superlattice (SL), grown using MOCVD. Magnesium was used as the p-type dopant. A sheet resistance of 11.6 kΩ/■, and a contact resistance of 14.9 Ω.mm was determined using transmission line measurements (TLM) for a Mg doping of 1.5 × 10 19 cm -3 of Mg. Mobilities in the range of 7−10 cm 2 /Vs and a total sheet charge density in the range of 1 × 10 13 -6 × 10 13 cm -2 were measured using room temperature Hall effect measurements. Without Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) treatment, the fabricated pFETs had a maximum drain-source current (IDS) of 3mA/mm and an On-Resistance (RON) of 3.48 kΩ.mm, and did not turn-off completely. With TMAH treatment during fabrication, a maximum IDS of 4.5mA/mm, RON of 2.2kΩ.mm, and five orders of current modulation was demonstrated, which is the highest achieved for a p-type transistor based on (Al,Ga)N. AlGaN/GaN superlattice (SL). MOCVD growth technique was used magnesium was used as the p-type dopant. With Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) treatment during fabrication, a maximum IDS of 4.5mA/mm, RON of 2.2kΩ.mm, and five orders of current modulation was demonstrated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AlGaN/GaN Superlattice‐Based p‐Type Field‐Effect Transistor with Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Treatment

Krishna

Raj

Hatui

et al. 2019

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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“…The higher order converter loss results are unaffected due to the lack of very low voltage rated devices in EPC's eGaN series, just as the one bridge result is unchanged due to the lack of higher voltage rated eGaN devices. A full method and more extensive results can be found in [24].…”

Section: Advanced Power Switching Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative power loss analysis and optimisation in N th‐order low‐voltage multilevel converters

Petersen

Stone

Foster

et al. 2019

IET Power Electronics

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Focusing on cascaded H-bridge converters for grid-tie battery energy storage, a practical, analytical method is derived to evaluate the switching-associated power loss in multilevel converters, evaluated from a number of sources of loss. This new method is then used to find performance trends in the use of converters of increasing order over a range of switching frequencies. This includes an experimental analysis into predicting the performance of MOSFET body diodes. Authors' analysis with this model shows that a multilevel converter can have lower losses than the equivalent single-bridge, three-level converter, particularly at higher switching frequencies, due to the availability of suitable switching devices. It also has interesting implications for enabling the use of cutting-edge non-silicon power switching devices to further improve potential efficiencies.

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Investigation of nitrogen polar p-type doped GaN/AlxGa(1-x)N superlattices for applications in wide-bandgap p-type field effect transistors

Krishna

Raj

Hatui

et al. 2019

Applied Physics Letters

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In this study the MOCVD growth and electrical properties of N-polar modulation doped p-AlGaN/GaN superlattices (SLs) were investigated. Hole sheet charge density and mobility were studied as a function of the concentration of the p-type dopant Mg in the SL and the number of SL periods. Room temperature Hall measurements were carried out to determine the hole mobility and the sheet charge density. While the hole density increased with increasing number of SL periods, the hole mobility was largely unaffected. Hole mobilities as high as 18 cm 2 /Vs at a simultaneous high hole density of 6.5 x 10 13 cm -2 were observed for N-polar SLs with a Mg modulation doping of 7.5 x 10 18 cm -3 . For comparable uniformly doped Ga-polar SL samples, a mobility of 11 cm 2 /Vs was measured. These results confirm the presence of abrupt Mg doping profiles in N-polar p-type GaN/AlxGa(1-x)N SL allowing the demonstration of SLs with properties comparable to those of state-of-the-art Ga-polar modulation doped AlGaN/GaN SLs grown using MBE. Lowest sheet resistance in the GaN/AlGaN materials system of 5kΩ/□ is also reported. Test-structure transistors were also fabricated to investigate the applicability of these SL structures, with planar device resulting in a current of 5mA/mm, and a FinFET structure resulting in a current of over 100mA/mm. Wide-Bandgap (Al,Ga)N electronic devices are at the forefront of realizing the needs of next generation communication systems, power conversion and energy conservation, thus enabling compact and affordable electronic systems 1-6 . The main reasons for this include: (a) Wide-bandgap of GaN (~3.4eV) and III-nitride alloys, enabling higher breakdown voltages 7 and (b) the existence of built-in polarization fields leading to very high mobility and charge in two dimensional-electron gas (2DEG) structures 8 . But, to tap into the full potential of this materials system, the fabrication of p-type GaN based devices is desired 9 . Some of the challenges associated with p-type GaN include: -(a) the low mobility of holes in GaN, with a maximum observed value of 40 cm 2 /Vs at a hole concentration of 2×10 12 cm −2 in a two dimensional-hole gas (2DHG), and 20 cm 2 /Vs in bulk p-GaN (p= 1×10 17 cm −3 ) 10,11 ; (b) the deep nature of the common acceptor dopant in GaN (160 -220 meV) 12,13 ; (c) the passivation of MOCVD grown p-GaN material, like the one in this report, by hydrogen in the as-grown state, and the need for annealing at a high temperature (here, 800 0 C) for activation 14 ; (d) the challenges involved with making ohmic contacts to p-type GaN because of the high p-GaN work function at typical doping levels 15 . Due to the above listed challenges, in the past p-channel GaN devices have received significantly less attention compared to GaN-based n-channel field effect transistors (FETs) 10,16-24 .

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On the impact of current generation commercial gallium nitride power transistors on power converter loss

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

AlGaN/GaN Superlattice‐Based p‐Type Field‐Effect Transistor with Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Treatment

AlGaN/GaN Superlattice‐Based p‐Type Field‐Effect Transistor with Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Treatment

Quantitative power loss analysis and optimisation in N th‐order low‐voltage multilevel converters

Investigation of nitrogen polar p-type doped GaN/AlxGa(1-x)N superlattices for applications in wide-bandgap p-type field effect transistors

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