Evaluating the JEDEC Standard JEP173, Dynamic R-DSON Test Method for GaN HEMTs

This paper presents an evaluation of the new JEDEC standard JEP173. The JEP173 establishes a characterization procedure to reliably assess the dynamic ON-resistance of GaN lateral power transistors. DC and pulsed measurement setups were developed to evaluate the proposed methods for hard and soft switching conditions. Several devices were tested under a wide range of test conditions. We found that the proposed procedures in JEP173 allow for accurate acquisition of the ON-resistance under several test conditions. However our experiment found the standard, in its current version, does not account for the stress voltage and temperature effects on the dynamic R-DSON, leading to under-characterization of parts.