High voltage, high speed, GaAs Schottky power rectifier

This paper reports the development of high voltage (100 to 200 volts) GaAs Schottky power rectifiers with high speed switching capability. Due to the higher electron mobility and larger band gap, the GaAs rectifiers are projected to have 10 times lower series resistance when compared with silicon devices. These devices have been fabricated using lightly doped ( /cm³) N-type epitaxial layers grown on heavily doped (N+) substrates utilizing a variety of Schottky barrier metals. Rectifiers with breakdown voltages of up to 200 volts have been fabricated with 3 amp current carrying capability at a forward drop of 1 volt. These devices exhibit very low leakage currents compared with conventional silicon Schottky rectifiers. Further, switching measurements have demonstrated no overshoot in the forward drop during turn-on and negligible reverse recovering charge during turn-off with turn-off times of less than 5 nanoseconds.