Underlying design advantages for GaN MOSFETs compared with GaN HFETs for power applications

This study investigates the underlying reasons and quantifies the advantages the GaN MOSFET has over the GaN HFET for high voltage and power applications. Calibrated simulations with equivalent material model files show that equivalent dimensioned devices are capable of producing similar on-state modes of operation, and achieve similar effective mobility at equivalent larger electric fields. However, during sub-threshold operation, the GaN MOSFET is shown to contain a much lower carrier concentration than the GaN HFET. This prolongs the breakdown avalanche effect in the GaN MOSFET (3500 V) by roughly five times larger than the GaN HFET (600 V) for devices of similar dimensions. Implementing the MOS structure can potentially resolve fundamental constraints for high voltage power applications caused by current device architects.