High-performance reverse blocking p-GaN HEMTs with recessed Schottky and p-GaN isolation blocks drain

In this Letter, the p-GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) with hybrid drain of recessed Schottky (RS) and p-GaN isolation blocks' drain (HSP drain) is proposed and fabricated for good reverse blocking capability. The related operation mechanism has been investigated and revealed. The proposed device features a drain terminal consisting of the array-distributed recessed Schottky and p-GaN isolation blocks. Based on the features, the reverse leakage current (5 × 10−9 A/mm at VDS = −100 V) is obviously reduced by two orders of magnitude compared with that (5 × 10−7 A/mm) of p-GaN HEMTs only with recessed Schottky (RS) drain, which is the lowest leakage current among the reported GaN-on-Si reverse blocking transistors. The introduction of these p-GaN isolation blocks has a negligible impact on Von (Von = 0.63 V). Therefore, a good improvement in the trade-off between the reverse leakage current and Von could be achieved because of the significant reduction in the reverse leakage current without sacrificing Von. In addition, the reverse breakdown voltage of −800 V at 1 μA/mm with a substrate grounded in the proposed device is evidently improved compared with the counterpart (−680 V), which is attributed to effective alleviation of the high electric field near the HSP drain. These results demonstrate the significance and potential of p-GaN HEMTs with HSP drain in reverse blocking applications.