Development of gallium oxide power devices

• Published in: Physica status solidi. A, Applications and materials science Applications and materials science, 2014-01, Vol.211 (1), p.21-26
• Main Authors: Higashiwaki, Masataka, Sasaki, Kohei, Kuramata, Akito, Masui, Takekazu, Yamakoshi, Shigenobu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breakdown; Electronic devices; Epitaxy; field-effect transistors; Ga2O3; Gallium oxides; MESFET; MESFETs; Molecular beam epitaxy; power devices; Schottky barrier diodes; Semiconductors; Single crystals
• ISSN: 1862-6300; 1862-6319
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.201330197

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a strong contender for power electronic devices. The material possesses excellent properties such as a large bandgap of 4.7–4.9 eV for a high breakdown field of 8 MV cm−1. Low cost, high volume production of large single‐crystal β‐Ga2O3 substrates can be realized by melt‐growth methods commonly adopted in the industry. High‐quality n‐type Ga2O3 epitaxial thin films with controllable carrier densities were obtained by ozone molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We fabricated Ga2O3 metal‐semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MESFETs) and Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) from single‐crystal Ga2O3 substrates and MBE‐grown epitaxial wafers. The MESFETs delivered excellent device performance including an off‐state breakdown voltage (Vbr) of over 250 V, a low leakage current of only few μA mm−1, and a high drain current on/off ratio of about four orders of magnitude. The SBDs also showed good characteristics such as near‐unity ideality factors and high reverse Vbr. These results indicate that Ga2O3 can potentially meet or even exceed the performance of Si and typical widegap semiconductors such as SiC or GaN for ultrahigh‐voltage power switching applications.