Over the past decade, advances in LEDs have enabled the potential for wide-scale replacement of traditional lighting with solid-state light sources. If LED performance targets are realized, solid-state lighting will provide significant energy savings, important environmental benefits, and dramatically new ways to utilize and control light. In this paper, we review LED performance targets that are needed to achieve these benefits and highlight some of the remaining technical challenges. We describe recent advances in LED materials and novel device concepts that show promise for realizing the full potential of LED-based white lighting.

LEDs for Solid-State Lighting: Performance Challenges and Recent Advances

Power semiconductor devices are key components in power conversion systems. Silicon carbide (SiC) has received increasing attention as a wide-bandgap semiconductor suitable for high-voltage and low-loss power devices. Through recent progress in the crystal growth and process technology of SiC, the production of medium-voltage (600?1700 V) SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) and power metal?oxide?semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) has started. However, basic understanding of the material properties, defect electronics, and the reliability of SiC devices is still poor. In this review paper, the features and present status of SiC power devices are briefly described. Then, several important aspects of the material science and device physics of SiC, such as impurity doping, extended and point defects, and the impact of such defects on device performance and reliability, are reviewed. Fundamental issues regarding SiC SBDs and power MOSFETs are also discussed.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.7567/JJAP.54.040103/pdf

Material science and device physics in SiC technology for high-voltage power devices

This is a review article on the current status and future prospects of the research and development on gallium oxide (Ga2O3) power devices. Ga2O3 possesses excellent material properties, in particular for power device applications. It is also attractive from an industrial viewpoint since large-size, high-quality wafers can be manufactured from a single-crystal bulk synthesized by melt–growth methods. These two features have drawn much attention to Ga2O3 as a new wide bandgap semiconductor following SiC and GaN. In this review, we describe the recent progress in the research and development on fundamental technologies of Ga2O3 devices, covering single-crystal bulk and wafer production, homoepitaxial thin film growth by molecular beam epitaxy and halide vapor phase epitaxy, as well as device processing and characterization of metal–semiconductor field-effect transistors, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors and Schottky barrier diodes.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0268-1242/31/3/034001/pdf

Recent progress in Ga2O3 power devices

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a strong contender for power electronic devices. The material possesses excellent properties such as a large bandgap of 4.7–4.9 eV for a high breakdown field of 8 MV cm−1. Low cost, high volume production of large single-crystal β-Ga2O3 substrates can be realized by melt-growth methods commonly adopted in the industry. High-quality n-type Ga2O3 epitaxial thin films with controllable carrier densities were obtained by ozone molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We fabricated Ga2O3 metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) and Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) from single-crystal Ga2O3 substrates and MBE-grown epitaxial wafers. The MESFETs delivered excellent device performance including an off-state breakdown voltage (Vbr) of over 250 V, a low leakage current of only few μA mm−1, and a high drain current on/off ratio of about four orders of magnitude. The SBDs also showed good characteristics such as near-unity ideality factors and high reverse Vbr. These results indicate that Ga2O3 can potentially meet or even exceed the performance of Si and typical widegap semiconductors such as SiC or GaN for ultrahigh-voltage power switching applications.

Development of gallium oxide power devices

Ga2O3 field-plated Schottky barrier diodes (FP-SBDs) were fabricated on a Si-doped n−-Ga2O3 drift layer grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy on a Sn-doped n+-Ga2O3 (001) substrate. The specific on-resistance of the Ga2O3 FP-SBD was estimated to be 5.1 mΩ·cm2. Successful field-plate engineering resulted in a high breakdown voltage of 1076 V. A larger-than-expected effective barrier height of 1.46 eV, which was extracted from the temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics, could be caused by the effect of fluorine atoms delivered in a hydrofluoric acid solution process.

1-kV vertical Ga2O3 field-plated Schottky barrier diodes

Bulk GaN crystals grown by HVPE

Relatively large size (about 10 mm × 10 mm) m -plane GaN substrates are grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The high crystalline quality of the substrates was observed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Typical full widths at half maximum values of X-ray rocking curves measured for the (100) and (102) reflections were 25–35 arcsec and 30–40 arcsec, respectively. The defect density distribution was analyzed from the [100] direction by the cathodeluminescence method. The dark spot density decreased in the growth direction and could be as low as 2.5 × 105 cm–2. No stacking faults could be seen. The surface roughness after the lapping, polishing and cleaning was measured by atomic force microscopy and the RMS roughness was 0.072 nm. All of the phonon modes that the selection rules allow have been observed in polarized Raman measurements. High-quality large-size m -plane GaN substrates will enable the realization of commercial production of nonpolar devices. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

High-quality nonpolar m -plane GaN substrates grown by HVPE

The current–voltage characteristics of Schottky barrier diodes formed on GaN(0001) free-standing substrates with net donor concentrations of 7.6×1015–1.4×1017 cm-3 are discussed. The substrates were grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Ni Schottky contacts were directly formed on chemical–mechanical-polished Ga-polar faces of the substrates. Nearly ideal characteristics for both directions were obtained. The ideality factors for forward characteristics are 1.02–1.05, very close to unity. The reverse characteristics agree well with calculations based on thermionic-field emission theory without any fitting parameter.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1143/APEX.3.101003/pdf

Hideo Namita

Papers

Bulk GaN crystals grown by HVPE

High-quality nonpolar m -plane GaN substrates grown by HVPE

Nearly Ideal Current–Voltage Characteristics of Schottky Barrier Diodes Formed on Hydride-Vapor-Phase-Epitaxy-Grown GaN Free-Standing Substrates

Hydride vapor phase epitaxy of GaN on the vicinal c-sapphire with a CrN interlayer