Abstract: This special topic covers the structural modeling and electrical characteristic simulation of GaN-based HEMT, SBD, JBS, and MOSFET devices, providing simulation processes and characteristic results for each device type. The goal is to help users quickly master the use of Nuwa TCAD for analysis and optimization design of GaN-based power devices.
In recent years, the research, development, and application of gallium nitride (GaN) power devices have received widespread attention. Due to the excellent inherent properties of GaN material, such as a wide bandgap (approximately 3.3 eV), high breakdown electric field (approximately 3.3 MV/cm), and high electron mobility (approximately 1500 cm2/V·s), GaN semiconductor power devices offer higher breakdown voltage, faster electron velocity, lower on-resistance, better thermal stability, and greater radiation resistance. As a result, GaN power devices have been widely applied in fields such as 5G communications, rail transit, radar warning systems, new energy vehicles, high-voltage power grids, and consumer electronics.
Major types of GaN power devices include GaN Schottky Barrier Diodes (GaN SBD), GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (GaN HEMT), GaN Junction Barrier Schottky Diodes (GaN JBS), GaN Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (GaN IGBT), and GaN Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (GaN MOSFET). In recent years, to improve the breakdown voltage and high-frequency characteristics of GaN power devices, significant structural optimization designs have been explored, such as vertical GaN power devices, GaN MIS-HEMT, super-junction GaN MOSFET, and trench-type MISFET, which have garnered considerable attention in the industry. Continuous optimization of GaN power devices to achieve higher performance remains an ongoing industry goal.
Semiconductor device simulation offers unique advantages in device structure and performance optimization. It not only enables rapid performance verification of new devices, improving product development efficiency and reducing costs, but also allows observation of results that cannot be seen in experiments and analysis of the physical reasons behind various experimental phenomena. Thus, device simulation has become one of the essential methods for semiconductor device R&D.
This GaN Power Device Simulation Special Topic has been introduced to help users quickly master the Nuwa TCAD software usage process and model settings for GaN-based power device simulations. From device structure modeling to model settings, result output, and physical analysis, this topic demonstrates how to use Nuwa TCAD software to simulate different power devices, helping users understand the software's simulation principles as well as the operating principles and structural design of various GaN power devices.
This special topic uses the Nuwa TCAD for simulating GaN power devices. Nuwa TCAD is a domestic 2D & 3D semiconductor process and device simulation software that includes self-consistent solutions for multi-physical fields such as optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical simulations, solving the fundamental drift-diffusion equations for semiconductors. It incorporates various physical models, including defect modeling, SRH recombination, Auger recombination, carrier tunneling, impact ionization, mobility, thermionic emission, and self-heating effects, enabling the simulation of the physical mechanisms and electrical characteristics of GaN power devices. For GaN power devices, it is crucial to describe effects such as GaN material polarization, defect effects, and Fermi pinning effects, all of which can be configured and represented within the simulation software.