Optimization of Low-Voltage p-GaN Gate HEMTs for High-Efficiency Secondary Power Conversion

The explosive demand for high-performance secondary power sources in artificial intelligence (AI) has brought significant opportunities for low-voltage GaN devices. This paper focuses on research on high-efficiency and high-reliability low-voltage p-GaN gate HEMTs with a gate-drain distance, <i>L</i>_GD, of 1 to 3 μm in our pilot line, manufactured on 6-inch Si using a CMOS-compatible process, with extraordinary wafer-level uniformity. Specifically, these fabricated p-GaN gate HEMTs with an <i>L</i>_GD of 1.5 μm demonstrate a blocking voltage of over 180 V and a high <i>V</i>_TH of 1.6 V and exhibit a low <i>R</i>_ON of 2.8 Ω·mm. It is found that device structure optimization can significantly enhance device reliability. That is, through the dedicated optimization of source field plate structure and interlayer dielectric (ILD) thickness, the dynamic ON-resistance, <i>R</i>_ON, degradation of devices with an <i>L</i>_GD of 1.5 µm was successfully suppressed from 60% to 20%, and the <i>V</i>_TH shift was significantly reduced from 1.1 to 0.5 V. Further, the devices also passed preliminary gate bias stress and high-voltage OFF-state stress tests, providing guidance for preparing high-performance, low-voltage p-GaN gate HEMTs in the future.