Wide bandgap compound semiconductors for superior high-voltage power devices

A critical evaluation of the performance capabilities of various wide-bandgap compound semiconductors for superior high-power and high-frequency unipolar electronic devices is presented. A wide range of semiconductors, including the III-V and II-VI compounds, various semiconducting oxides, and some pseudobinary intermetallic compounds, have been analyzed. In order to cover all possible features of power device performance, seven different figures of merit are evaluated for the various semiconductors. Besides diamond and SiC, it is found that AlN, GaN, ZnO, and the intermetallic compounds Ga/sub x/In/sub 1-x/N, Al/sub x/In/sub 1-x/N, Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/N, and (AlN)/sub x/(SiC)/sub 1-x/ offer significantly improved unipolar power device performance over Si.<
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