Analysis on Repetitive Pulsed Overcurrent Operation of GaN Power Transistors

Gallium Nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) are a new technology that is of great interest in pulsed power and power electronics application due to the demonstrated capabilities of Silicon Carbide (SiC) transistors. As there are further advances in development of GaN power semiconductors, an interest in the evaluation of repetitive pulsed overcurrent operations that can happen in power electronic applications are of demand due to the devices being new. The device tested is a GaN HEMT GS61008P rated for 100 V and 90 A manufactured by GaN Systems. This device was evaluated in a pulsed ringdown test bed using peak currents up to 265 A (almost 3x the maximum continuous current) at frequencies over 75 Hz. Measurements of the device's electrical characteristics such as the forward I-V curve, transconductance, and voltage breakdown were performed throughout testing which demonstrated no significant degradation. Along with those measurements, the device's switching energy as a function of time was recorded. The data that was gathered based on these measurements and their results show the robustness of the GaN HEMT device and their ability to handle repeated transient overcurrent operations that is normally common in many power semiconductor device applications.