Case 14643

Unconventional Nitride-on-Si Substrate Structures

Keywords:

Nitride-based transistor, Si substrate, inverters, power conversion

Applications:

High voltage power electronics, power amplification, hybrid vehicles, high efficient power inverters for solar cells, power converters for LEDs

Problem:

GaN grown on Si substrate have high leakage current and limited breakdown voltage due to conducting Si substrate.

Technology:

This invention introduces three new GaN-on-Si substrate structures that increase nitride transistor breakdown voltage, reduce device leakage, improve nitride material quality and potentially produce free standing GaN wafers. The new substrates use three different structures to block the leakage current through the substrate and substrate/nitride interface: (a) p-n junctions on the top Si surface, (b) p-n junctions above an oxide layer, (c) Si pillars above oxide.

Advantages:

Reduces leakage current so that GaN transistors with breakdown voltages above 300V can be achieved.

Inventors:
  • Professor Tomas Palacios (Department Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT)
  • Bin Lu (Department Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT)
  • Elison de Nazareth Matioli (Microsystem Technology Laboratories, MIT)

Intellectual Property:

U.S. Patent Application Number 61/735604, filed on December 11, 2012

Publications:

N/A

Last revised: April 30, 2013

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