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  4. Failure analysis of normally-off GaN HEMTs under avalanche conditions
 
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2020
Journal Article
Title

Failure analysis of normally-off GaN HEMTs under avalanche conditions

Abstract
Gallium nitride (GaN) high electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are promising devices in the power electronics field owing to their wide bandgap (WBG). However, all the potential advantages provided by their WBG require reliability improvement. In industrial applications, robustness is one of the main factors considered by circuit designers. This study focuses on the observation of the degradation behavior of the main waveforms of unclamped inductive-switching (UIS) test circuits of two different commercial GaN HEMT structures. The relevance of this study lies in the potential applications of these devices to high-voltage applications and automotive systems where they are subjected to many UIS events over their lifetime. This study shows that avalanche does not occur on these devices; the refore, the breakdown is caused by the high voltage. A deeper analysis of the breakdown mechanism is achieved using a curve/tracer analyzer, lock-in thermography, and focused ion beam. These experiments reveal that impact ionization is the main failure mechanism that causes breakdown in both structures.
Author(s)
Martinez, P.J.
University of Valencia, Department of Electronic Engineering, Burjassot, E-46100, Spain
Letz, S.  
Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie IISB  
Maset, E.
University of Valencia, Department of Electronic Engineering, Burjassot, E-46100, Spain
Zhao, D.
Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie IISB  
Journal
Semiconductor Science and Technology  
DOI
10.1088/1361-6641/ab6bad
Language
English
Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie IISB  
Keyword(s)
  • gallium nitride

  • high electron mobility transistors

  • III-V semiconductors

  • impact ionization

  • ion beams

  • outages

  • Power HEMT

  • wide band gap semiconductors

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