Nitride Semiconductor Field Plate Insulation for Breakdown Voltage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Compound semiconductor devices face the challenge of achieving higher breakdown voltage while maintaining lower on-resistance, as increasing the distance between the gate and drain electrodes to improve breakdown voltage can lead to increased on-resistance due to current collapse.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a compound semiconductor device with a nitride semiconductor stacked structure, including a carrier transit layer, a carrier supply layer, and a field plate, where the number of insulation film interfaces is minimized between the field plate and the drain electrode, and the film thickness of insulation films is optimized to reduce electron trapping and current collapse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the distance between the gate and drain electrodes is increased to improve breakdown voltage, then the breakdown voltage is improved, but the on-resistance increases due to current collapse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different insulation film configurations in different regions: between the gate electrode and drain electrode, multiple insulation films with specific interfaces are used to suppress current collapse and maintain low on-resistance, while other regions may have different insulation structures optimized for their specific functions. This local differentiation allows simultaneous optimization of breakdown voltage and on-resistance characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the number of interfaces of insulation films and the film thickness parameters in the region between the field plate and drain electrode. By controlling these parameters (number of interfaces, film thickness), the patent suppresses electron trapping and current collapse, thereby maintaining low on-resistance while achieving high breakdown voltage through the field plate structure.
2Reliability
If multiple insulation films are used to suppress current collapse, then the on-resistance is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent strategically places multiple insulation films with specific interface configurations only in the critical region between the gate electrode and drain electrode where current collapse occurs, rather than uniformly throughout the entire device. This localized approach suppresses current collapse and maintains low on-resistance while minimizing the overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite insulation film structures with different material compositions and thicknesses optimized for specific functions. The combination of multiple insulation films with different properties (dielectric constants, breakdown strengths) allows effective suppression of current collapse while managing the complexity through functional differentiation of each layer.
Data Source
AI summary
A compound semiconductor device includes a nitride semiconductor stacked structure including a carrier transit layer and a carrier supply layer; a source electrode and a drain electrode provided over the nitride semiconductor stacked structure; a gate electrode provided between the source electrode and the drain electrode, over the nitride semiconductor stacked structure; a field plate provided at least partially between the gate electrode and the drain electrode; and a plurality of insulation films and formed over the nitride semiconductor stacked structure, wherein a number of interfaces of the plurality of insulation films is smaller between the field plate and the drain electrode than in the vicinity of the gate electrode.