This invention discloses a
gallium nitride (GaN) power device with a wide operating
gate voltage. The structure includes a substrate, which, from bottom to top, comprises a substrate layer, a
nucleation layer, a buffer layer, a channel layer, a
barrier layer, a
passivation layer, and an
isolation layer. The
barrier layer has a
voltage-limiting region, a power region, and a
discharge region. The first drain
metal of the
voltage-limiting region and the third gate
metal of the
discharge region are connected via a first interconnect
metal and connected to the input
gate voltage. The first source metal of the
voltage-limiting region, the second gate metal of the power region, and the third drain metal of the
discharge region are connected via a second interconnect metal. This invention, on the one hand, clamps the second gate metal potential of the power region using the saturation characteristics of a GaN HEMT, improving the overall
gate voltage swing of the device; on the other hand, it establishes a
charge discharge path for the second P-type GaN cap layer of the power region using the switching characteristics of a depletion-mode GaN PFET, enhancing the overall gate stability of the device.