Simulation of the electrical characteristics of high-voltage mesa and planar GaN Schottky and p-i-n rectifiers

The use of GaN for the fabrication of Schottky and p-i-n rectifiers presents an opportunity to take advantage of the high-voltage and high-power handling characteristics of the III-nitride materials. We report the results of two-dimensional (2-D) device simulations to provide estimates of the performance limitations and a comparison for vertical- and horizontal-geometry GaN mesa and planar Schottky-barrier rectifiers and p-i-n devices. The simulated performance of devices with practical drift region thicknesses indicate that it is possible to realize Schottky-barrier and p-i-n rectifiers with turn-on voltages of V/sub 0N/<5 V, and blocking voltages of up to V/sub BR/=-2,320 V and -675 V, and figure of merit values of V/sub BR//sup 2//R/sub 0N/>1000 and 3000 MW/cm/sup 2/, respectively.