SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH European GAN consortium promises GaN performance at Si prices

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Research has long since been looking to tackle the challenge of maximising efficiency in power conversion at a low cost. Now, a relatively new consortium known as YESvGAN is looking to create a new class of vertical power transistors based on gallium nitride (GaN).

GaN is a binary III/V direct bandgap semiconductor that has gained significant attention for its applications in electronics and optoelectronics. It has a wide range of remarkable properties that include a wide bandgap, high breakdown voltage, high thermal conductivity, and high electron mobility, making it superior to traditional silicon in many applications. Devices made from GaN can operate more efficiently than silicon-based devices, with lower losses and higher switching speeds. This efficiency is particularly beneficial in power electronics, where GaN is used to improve the performance and efficiency of power converters and inverters.

GaN technology is revolutionising the power electronics industry in many ways by enabling the development of more compact and efficient power supplies, chargers, and converters. It is particularly impactful in applications requiring high power density and efficiencies, such as electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy systems, and data centres.

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The YESvGAN project

YESvGAN aims to establish a new class of vertical GaN power transistors to combine the benefits of WBG technology with the cost advantage of silicon. According to the consortium, these will be able to replace IGBTs and therefore reduce power conversion losses in price-sensitive applications such as data centers and traction inverters in electric vehicles. The consortium plans to cover the development of the technology from wafer to application.

The objectives of the project include:

• Development of vertical drift epitaxy enabling up to 1200 V blocking voltage on low-cost silicon substrates.

• Development of low-cost vertical GaN power transistor and process technology with performance above state-of-the-art SiC MOSFETs.

• Development of membrane process technology for vertical GaN power transistors with ultra-low resistance contribution from backside contact.

• Development of advanced interconnection technology compatible with membrane vertical GaN power transistors.

• Understand performance limitations, degradation, and failure mechanisms of membrane vertical GaN power transistors.

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23 partners and counting

Since the YESvGAN project launched in May 2021, the project consortium has grown to 23 European partners, and vertical device demonstrations with FinFET architectures have already been created successfully. In addition, vertical layer stacks have been grown on silicon and sapphire with a diode breakdown voltage exceeding 500 V.

This, according to YESvGAN, is a major step to reaching the overall project goal of 1200 V blocking voltage on low-cost silicon substrates. This may mean that the market for future high-performance applications could be accessible for the GaN semiconductor material.

“We are confident that YESvGaN will continue to achieve promising results in the next phases of the project and take a significant step towards fully vertical GaN membrane transistors,” said a 2022 press release.

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