POWER GAN SCHOTTKY DIODES UNDER CURRENT DENSITY STRESSING

Silicon is commonly used in modern electronics; however, the technical specs are being maxed. Wide bandgap semiconductors such as gallium nitride (GaN) are being explored to further the development of better power electronics. This thesis continues testing conducted by Naval Postgraduate School student Burnell Clemmer, who designed a testing box capable of stressing wide bandgap semiconductors and found that they were failing quickly under stress. The objective of this thesis was to identify the range of operation for GaN Schottky diodes and their failure mechanisms under high current density stressing to allow for better designs for high voltage power diodes. In order to accomplish this, we conducted a series of high temperature operating life stress experiments by running an electrical current through representative bulk GaN power diodes for extended periods of time. We then documented their degradation by taking current-voltage-temperature characteristic plots throughout the test. The results generally showed that both time and current density increased the rate of degradation of the devices, but concrete conclusions could not be drawn due to limited amount of data and inconsistencies.
Lieutenant, United States Navy
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