High Breakdown Voltage Au/Pt/GaN Schottky Diodes

Au/Pt/GaN Schottky diode rectifiers were fabricated with reverse breakdown voltage (V sub (RB)) up to 550 V on vertically depleting structures and >2000 V on lateral devices. The figure-of-merit (V sub (RB)) sup 2/R sub (ON), when R sub (ON) is the on-state resistance, had values between 4.2-48MW dot cm sup (-2). The reverse leakage currents and forward on-voltages were still somewhat higher than the theoretical minimum values, but where comparable to SiC Schottky rectifiers reported in the literature. These devices show promise for use in ultra high-power switches.