10 kV GaN Power Diodes and Transistors with Performance beyond SiC Limit

Abstract

Medium-voltage (MV) power electronic devices are widely used in renewable energy processing, electric grids, pulse power systems, etc. Current MV devices are mainly made of Si and SiC. This paper presents our recent efforts in developing a new generation of MV devices based on the multi-channel AlGaN/GaN platform and many new device designs involving charge balance, fin, and Cascode. The specific on-resistance of our 10 kV-class GaN Schottky barrier diodes and normally-OFF transistors is 40 mcm2, rendering a Baliga's figure of merit exceeding the 1-D unipolar SiC limits. We show the great promise of GaN in medium and high-voltage power applications.