NOVEL HIGH-PERFORMANCE III-N HBTS FOR NEXT-GENERATION ENERGY-EFFICIENT SYSTEMS

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

ECCS-0725736 R. Dupuis, GA Tech Research Corp The objective of this research is to develop a new high-voltage III-N HBT technology to address the critical need for increased efficiency in current energy use from power electronics perspectives. The approach is to utilize the synergistic combination of team?s unique capabilities, including (1) the commercial-scale III-N MOCVD growth process technology to develop an advanced material technology of nitride-based transistors; (2) the design of optimized high-power device structures and the development of manufacturable fabrication techniques; and (3) detailed Monte-Carlo device simulations to create a new level of technology that can expand the high-voltage circuitry envelop with decades of performance improvements to achieve highly energy efficient electronic systems. Intellectual Merit III-nitride based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) proposed in this program will have a potential to create the devices that can offer an increased blocking voltage with a factor of 10 (or higher) and a reduced on-state power loss by a factor of at least 100 times when compared with currently available silicon technologies, which is one of the major issues in demonstrating high-efficiency high-voltage DC-AC conversion. Broader Impacts The success in this program will drastically improve the energy utilization efficiency in many high-power usage business sectors. These industry sectors currently are responsible for major electric energy supply or consumption and are suffering high premium on the electric energy loss in power electronics. The proposed III-N HBT technology will offer a much improved semiconductor device alternative to reduce energy loss during circuit switching and voltage conversion.