Reducing Schottky on-resistance in multi-channel structures

Researchers based in Switzerland and China have reported on lateral Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) using tri-gate multi-channel aluminium gallium nitirde (AlGaN) heterostructures on silicon [Jun Ma et al, IEEE Electron Device Letters, published online 17 December 2018].

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Enkris Semiconductor Inc see many possible applications for lateral devices with low on-resistance and high voltage blocking enabled by tri-gate structures. Such devices could include normally-on or normally-off transistors. Indeed, researchers from the same organizations recently reported on multi-channel tri-gate metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors [see Semiconductor Today, ‘Multi-channel tri-gate III-nitride high-electron-mobility transistors on silicon’].

The team comments: “This unique design significantly enhanced the device performance, leading to state-of-the-art lateral GaN-on-Si power SBDs, and unveiled a novel platform to drastically improve the efficiency, increase the current rating, and reduce the size of GaN-based power devices.”