Simulation study on single-event burnout in field-plated Ga2O3 MOSFETs

This paper presents the 2-D numerical simulation results of the heavy-ion induced single-event burnout (SEB) and single event gate rupture (SEGR) in the depletion-mode gallium-oxide (Ga2O3) field-plated metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (FP-MOSFETs). The employed simulation physics models and material parameters were validated by the basic electrical characteristics in experiments. The SEB sensitive region was proven to be from the gate edge to the drain edge of the structure. The SEB failure could result from the large number of mobile holes that diffused into the strong electric field to form a very large joule heat power to induce thermal failure. Meanwhile, the SEGR sensitive region overlapped with that of the SEB. The accumulated at the gate channel interface could produce a high-density hole pool that formed a large positive potential to induce an SEGR. Based on the simulations, a catastrophic SEB was triggered at a drain voltage of around 350 V, which was 46.4 % of breakdown voltage. Besides, a severe leakage current degradation could be estimated at about 175 V. However, for the SEGR performance, an SEGR could be triggered even at 0 V. Finally, the influences of the field plate extension length on SEB and SEGR were investigated that the SEB sensitive region and maximum electric field during SEGR could be both improved.