Packaged Ga2O3 Schottky Rectifiers With Over 60-A Surge Current Capability

Ultrawide-bandgap gallium oxide (Ga
₂
O
₃
) devices have recently emerged as promising candidates for power electronics; however, the low thermal conductivity (
k
_T
) of Ga
₂
O
₃
causes serious concerns about their electrothermal ruggedness. This letter presents the first experimental demonstrations of large-area Ga
₂
O
₃
Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) packaged in the bottom-side-cooling and double-side-cooling configurations, and for the first time, characterizes the surge current capabilities of these packaged Ga
₂
O
₃
SBDs. Contrary to popular belief, Ga
₂
O
₃
SBDs with proper packaging show high surge current capabilities. The double-side-cooled Ga
₂
O
₃
SBDs with a 3 × 3-mm
²
Schottky contact area can sustain a peak surge current over 60 A, with a ratio between the peak surge current and the rated current superior to that of similarly-rated commercial SiC SBDs. The key enabling mechanisms for this high surge current are the small temperature dependence of
on
-resistance, which strongly reduces the thermal runaway, and the double-side-cooled packaging, in which the heat is extracted directly from the Schottky junction and does not need to go through the low-
k
_T
bulk Ga
₂
O
₃
chip. These results remove some crucial concerns regarding the electrothermal ruggedness of Ga
₂
O
₃
power devices and manifest the significance of their die-level thermal management.