1.7 kV/1.0 mΩcm2 normally-off vertical GaN transistor on GaN substrate with regrown p-GaN/AlGaN/GaN semipolar gate structure

A normally-off vertical GaN-based transistor on a bulk GaN substrate with low specific on-state resistance of 1.0 mΩ·cm
²
and high off-state breakdown voltage of 1.7 kV is presented. P-GaN/AlGaN/GaN triple layers are epitaxially regrown over V-shaped grooves formed over the drift layer. The channel utilizes so-called semi-polar face with reduced sheet carrier concentration at the AlGaN/GaN interface, which enables high threshold voltages of 2.5 V and stable switching operations. Note that formation of carbon-doped insulating GaN layer formed on p-GaN well layer underneath the channel suppresses the punch-through current at off-state between the source and drain, which enables good off-state characteristics. The fabricated high-current vertical transistor achieves successful fast switching at 400V/15A. These results indicate that the demonstrated vertical GaN transistor is very promising for future high power switching applications.