Cosmic ray immunity of COTS Normally-Off Power GaN FETs for space, aeronautic and automotive applications

The objective of this work is to characterize the SEE failure induced by heavy ion and neutron irradiations on commercial Normally-Off GaN technologies used in switching power conversion. It is mandatory for the Space, Aeronautic and Automotive industries to determine the radiation robustness of these new Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components in the operational and environmental conditions of their applications. Electrical behavior of Normally-Off GaN power transistors under heavy ion and neutron beams is presented to define the safe operating area (SOA) and analyze the mechanism of Single Event Effects (SEE). The results overall show great immunity for Normally -Off GaN FET against SEE induced by heavy ion with similarities between references but different failure mechanisms. SOA for neutrons and TID are relatively different between the studied technologies.