High performance wide bandgap power electronics at Si cost

Research question

GaN is a next-generation semiconductor, a wide-bandgap semiconductor with attractive material and thermal properties, and is a promising replacement for Silicon, mainly in high-frequency and power applications. Heterogenous integration of GaN on Si would enable CMOS-compatible manufacturing with better performance and low cost. Also, these faster switching devices have the advantage of having larger power density and lower energy consumption than traditional power Silicon devices.

The project involves the design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization of the higher efficiency GaN power MOSFETs, integrated on Silicon substrates.

Sustainability aspects

Manufacturing these power GaN requires less energy (and cost), and the smaller physical size of these devices increases the number of devices for the same Silicon wafer size. GaN device technology is promising in delivering solutions for sustainable, faster, and energy-efficient applications. Integration of the devices on large and readily available Silicon substrates will provide an substantial improvement in energy and cost over current small area GaN/SiC substrates.