학술논문

Implanted Guard Ring Edge Termination With Avalanche Capability for Vertical GaN Devices
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices IEEE Trans. Electron Devices Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on. 71(3):1481-1487 Mar, 2024
Subject
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Gallium nitride
Fabrication
Semiconductor diodes
Implants
Anodes
Performance evaluation
Nitrogen
Avalanche capability
edge termination
gallium nitride (GaN)
ion implantation
power electronics
power semiconductor devices
Language
ISSN
0018-9383
1557-9646
Abstract
Edge termination is the key building block in power devices to enable near-ideal, avalanche breakdown voltage (BV). 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.