TY - GEN
T1 - Achieving Robust Single-Event Irradiation Tolerance in 6-inch E-mode GaN-on-Sapphire HEMTs With a Thin AlN Buffer
AU - Zou, Can
AU - Ma, Yan
AU - Yu, Yiteng
AU - Tang, Zhengxiang
AU - Wang, Tianqi
AU - Liu, Jianli
AU - Zhang, Zhengliang
AU - Zhang, Zheng
AU - Dai, Liuxing
AU - Xia, Yuanyang
AU - Wu, Leke
AU - Li, Yiheng
AU - Zhu, Tinggang
AU - Xu, Weizong
AU - Chen, Dunjun
AU - Zhang, Rong
AU - Zhou, Feng
AU - Lu, Hai
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 IEEE.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - Power electronic devices exposed to the space environment face severe threats from high-energy space heavy-ion irradiation. This work demonstrates that p-GaN HEMTs fabricated on low-cost 6-inch sapphire substrates exhibit robust single-event irradiation hardness under 1.3 GeV heavy ion bombardment. The enhanced hardness is primarily attributed to the drastically reduced ion deposition energy in the thin AlN buffer coupled with the insulating properties of the sapphire substrate. Resultantly, the irradiation-hardened HEMTs achieve a remarkable single-event burnout voltage exceeding 700V, substantially surpassing that of the conventional GaN-on-Si HEMTs. Furthermore, the irradiated devices maintain fast switching performance, with turn-ON and turn-OFF times in the nanosecond range. These superior irradiation performances, achieved by simple, cost-effective GaN-on-sapphire technology, offer a promising pathway toward high-voltage, irradiation-hardened power devices for aerospace applications.
AB - Power electronic devices exposed to the space environment face severe threats from high-energy space heavy-ion irradiation. This work demonstrates that p-GaN HEMTs fabricated on low-cost 6-inch sapphire substrates exhibit robust single-event irradiation hardness under 1.3 GeV heavy ion bombardment. The enhanced hardness is primarily attributed to the drastically reduced ion deposition energy in the thin AlN buffer coupled with the insulating properties of the sapphire substrate. Resultantly, the irradiation-hardened HEMTs achieve a remarkable single-event burnout voltage exceeding 700V, substantially surpassing that of the conventional GaN-on-Si HEMTs. Furthermore, the irradiated devices maintain fast switching performance, with turn-ON and turn-OFF times in the nanosecond range. These superior irradiation performances, achieved by simple, cost-effective GaN-on-sapphire technology, offer a promising pathway toward high-voltage, irradiation-hardened power devices for aerospace applications.
KW - GaN HEMT
KW - GaN-on-sapphire
KW - ion deposition energy
KW - ion energy
KW - single event burnout
KW - thin epitaxy
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105042675727
U2 - 10.1109/ISPSD64561.2026.11553567
DO - 10.1109/ISPSD64561.2026.11553567
M3 - 会议稿件
AN - SCOPUS:105042675727
T3 - Proceedings of the International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs
SP - 545
EP - 548
BT - 2026 IEEE 38th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, ISPSD 2026
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 38th IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, ISPSD 2026
Y2 - 24 May 2026 through 28 May 2026
ER -