Stacked Strongly Coupled GaN/SiC Cascode Device With Fast Switching and Reclaimed Strong dv/dt Control
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We present a GaN-HEMT/SiC-JFET cascode device that replaces the most performance- and reliability-limiting low-mobility MOS channel of SiC MOSFETs with a high-quality GaN 2-D-electron-gas (2DEG) channel. Compared with SiC MOSFETs, the p-GaN gate-stack of the GaN/SiC cascode device delivers much lower gate charge${Q}_{\text {G}}$, thermally stable threshold voltage${V}_{\text {TH}}$, smaller specific on-resistance${R}_{\text {ON. {SP}}}$, and faster switching speed with substantially lower switching loss. A compact 3-D co-packaging solution with stacked GaN and SiC chips results in greatly reduced parasitic interconnection inductance (${L}_{\text {P}}\text {)}$, thereby suppressing the switching delay and switching loss. More importantly, the ultralow${L}_{\text {P}}$is shown to play a critical role in reclaiming the dv/dt controllability, which has long been a prevalent issue for cascode devices that make them vulnerable to electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues. With an ultralow${L}_{\text {P}}$, an increased capacitive gate-to-drain coupling (i.e.,${C}_{\text {GD}}\text {)}$in the low-voltage gate control GaN HEMT would allow strong dv/dt control via changing the external gate resistance${R}_{\text {G}}$in the gate driver circuit, which is the most simple and user-friendly control method in applications. The demonstrated GaN/SiC cascode device unveils an ultimate power device that unlocks the full potential of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors.
Institution: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,645
OpenAlex ID: W4408145692