A low turn-on voltage AlGaN/GaN lateral field-effect rectifier compatible with p-GaN gate HEMT technology

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we designed a low turn-on voltage (V On) AlGaN/GaN lateral field-effect rectifier (LFER) compatible with p-GaN gate high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) technology (PG-LFER). We also established an analytical model on the gated control two-dimensional-electron-gas density (n S) distributions and V On to investigate the underlying mechanism. The designed PG-LFER features a p-GaN charge storage layer (CSL) under the anode terminal. Net negative charge density in the p-GaN CSL (σ p-GaN) is associated with the activated doping concentration of p-GaN CSL (N p-GaN) and p-GaN CSL thickness (t p-GaN). V On of the PG-LFER is significantly lowered due to the low σ p-GaN caused by reducing the N p-GaN and t p-GaN. Meanwhile, the low V On PG-LFER also preserves recognizable reverse blocking and capacitance characteristics. Verified by the calibrated simulation, the designed PG-LFER shows 70% lower V On compared with the non-optimized LFER with a high σ p-GaN. Compatible with p-GaN gate HEMT technology, the designed PG-LFER with improved performance is a promising candidate for power integrated applications.