1300 V Normally-OFF p-GaN Gate HEMTs on Si With High ON-State Drain Current

In this article, we demonstrate normally-OFF p-GaN gate high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on Si with an ultrahigh breakdown voltage ( ${V}_{BR}$ ) and excellent saturation drain current. Benefiting from the optimized material growth of high-resistivity buffer, effective Al2O3 surface passivation with suppressed OFF-state leakage current, and proper management of the electric field on the p-GaN gate edge, the device with a gate–drain distance of $18.5~\mu \text{m}$ exhibits a ${V}_{BR}$ of 1344 V at ${I}_{D}$ of $1~\mu \text{A}$ /mm with grounded substrates, the highest among all the reported normally-OFF GaN-on-Si transistors. Well-restored high-density 2-D electron gas and efficient gate modulation enable the device with a high ${I}_{DS,max}$ of 450 mA/mm and a low specific ON-resistance of 3.92 $\text{m}\Omega \cdot $ cm2. Moreover, a large threshold voltage of 1.6 V (at ${I}_{D}$ of $10~\mu \text{A}$ /mm) and a steep subthreshold slope of 66 mV/dec have been achieved, with negligible threshold voltage shift upon long-term forward gate stress at 150 °C. These results illustrate the great potential of p-GaN gate HEMTs on Si for beyond 600-V applications.