Unique opportunity to harness polarization in GaN to override the conventional power electronics figure-of-merits

TL;DR

This paper explores how the intrinsic polarization effects in GaN can be exploited to surpass traditional performance limits in power electronics, offering new design opportunities for high-performance devices.

Contribution

It introduces the potential of polarization engineering in GaN to overcome the conventional trade-offs in power device performance.

Findings

Polarization effects in GaN can be harnessed to improve device performance.

GaN's unique properties enable new device design strategies.

Potential to surpass traditional power electronics limitations.

Abstract

Owing to the large breakdown electric field, wide bandgap semiconductors such as SiC, GaN, Ga2O3 and diamond based power devices are the focus for next generation power switching applications. The unipolar trade-off relationship between the area specific-on resistance and breakdown voltage is often employed to compare the performance limitation among various materials. The GaN material system has a unique advantage due to its prominent spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization effects in GaN, AlN, InN, AlxInyGaN alloys and flexibility in inserting appropriate heterojunctions thus dramatically broaden the device design space.