High voltage GaN Schottky rectifiers

Mesa and planar GaN Schottky diode rectifiers with reverse breakdown voltages (V_RB) up to 550 and >2000 V, respectively, have been fabricated. The on-state resistance, R_ON , was 6 mΩ·cm² and 0.8 Ω cm² , respectively, producing figure-of-merit values for (V_RB )²/R_ON in the range 5-48 MW·cm^-2 . At low biases the reverse leakage current was proportional to the size of the rectifying contact perimeter, while at high biases the current was proportional to the area of this contact. These results suggest that at low reverse biases, the leakage is dominated by the surface component, while at higher biases the bulk component dominates. On-state voltages were 3.5 V for the 550 V diodes and ⩾15 for the 2 kV diodes. Reverse recovery times were <0.2 μs for devices switched from a forward current density of ~500 A·cm^-2 to a reverse bias of 100 V