Design and characterization of a 200 V, 45 A all-GaN HEMT-based power module

Emerging gallium nitride (GaN)-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology has the potential to make lower loss and higher power switching characteristics than those made using traditional silicon (Si) components. This work designed, developed, and tested an all-GaN-based power module. In a 200 V, 45 A module, each switching element comprises three GaN chips in parallel, each of which includes six 2.1 A AlGaN/GaN-on-Si HEMT cells. The cells are wire-bonded in parallel to scale up the power rating. Static ID-VDS characteristics of the module are experimentally obtained over widely varying base plate temperatures, and a low on-state resistance is obtained at an elevated temperature of 125 °C. The fabricated module has a blocking voltage exceeding 200 V at a reverse-leakage current density below 1 mA/mm. Two standard temperature measurements are made to provide a simple means of determining mean cell temperature in the module. Self-heating in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is studied by electrical analysis and infrared thermography. Electrical analysis provides fast temperature overviews while infrared thermography reveals temperature behavior in selected active regions. The current distribution among cells was acceptable over the measured operating temperature range. The characterization of electrical performance and mechanical performance confirm the potential use of the packaged module for high-power applications.