High Power Electronics Research Articles

Facile synthesis of β-Ga2O3 based high-performance electronic devices via direct oxidation of solution-processed transition metal dichalcogenides

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a promising wide bandgap semiconductor that is viewed as a contender for the next generation of high-power electronics due to its high theoretical breakdown electric field and large Baliga’s figure of merit. Here, we report a facile route of synthesizing β-Ga2O3 via direct oxidation conversion using solution-processed two-dimensional (2D) GaS semiconducting nanomaterial. Higher order of crystallinity in x-ray diffraction patterns and full surface coverage formation in scanning electron microscopy images after annealing were achieved. A direct and wide bandgap of 5 eV was calculated, and the synthesized β-Ga2O3 was fabricated as thin film transistors (TFT). The β-Ga2O3 TFT fabricated exhibits remarkable electron mobility (1.28 cm2 Vs−1) and a good current ratio (I on/I off) of 2.06 × 105. To further boost the electrical performance and solve the structural imperfections resulting from the exfoliation process of the 2D nanoflakes, we also introduced and doped graphene in β-Ga2O3 TFT devices, increasing the electrical device mobility by ∼8-fold and thereby promoting percolation pathways for the charge transport. We found that electron mobility and conductivity increase directly with the graphene doping concentration. From these results, it can be proved that the β-Ga2O3 networks have excellent carrier transport properties. The facile and convenient synthesis method successfully developed in this paper makes an outstanding contribution to applying 2D oxide materials in different and emerging optoelectronic applications.

Synergetic effect of particle shape and multi-layer coating on the magnetic properties of FeSiAl-based soft magnetic composites

Gas atomization and multi-layer coating are widely used powder fabrication techniques to prepare soft magnetic composites (SMCs) utilized in high-power low-loss power electronics. However, the diverse morphologies of gas-atomized powders significantly impact coating effectiveness, subsequently influencing the soft magnetic properties of SMCs. Herein, FeSiAl-based SMCs with different particle shapes and a multi-layer coating of phosphate and heat-resistant silicone resin are prepared to explore the synergetic effects of particle shape and coating on magnetic performances. Compared with dumbbell-shaped powder, the spherical powder has a regular shape and strong flowability, resulting in a close-packing structure of the magnetic core. The spherical particle with a large specific surface area promotes efficient insulation coating effects. The dumbbell-shaped particles are potentially prone to cause pores and defects during the high-pressure compaction process, leading to poor dense packing and magnetic loss performance. With a similar average particle size, the magnetic core prepared by spherical powders exhibits a larger interface area, resulting in a greater demagnetizing field after phosphating passivation, thus significantly improving the DC-bias performance. The FeSiAl-based magnetic core prepared by spherical powders with 1.5 wt% phosphoric acid passivation has better magnetic loss and DC-bias properties than that by dumbbell-shaped powders, showing a stable permeability of 60.4, core loss of 286.2 mW/cm3 at 100 mT, 100 kHz, and DC bias characteristic of 49.1 % at a DC superposition field of 100 Oe.

Charge-carrier engineering of staggered-gap p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 bipolar heterojunction for self-powered photodetector with exceptional linear dynamic range and stability

Beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3)-based heterojunction photodetectors (HJPDs) based on p-n heterojunction have drawn a lot of attention since p-type doping of β-Ga2O3 is challenging to perform. Thus, choosing affordable and effective inorganic hole transport layers (HTLs) is a crucial first step in commercializing PDs. Copper aluminum oxide (p-CuAlO2) is a very likely candidate material for heterojunction with β-Ga2O3, because of its large hole mobility for use in solar-blind photodetectors and high-power electronics. In this study, we propose employing a p-CuAlO2 interlayer for built a β-Ga2O3-based SBUV HJPDs by regulating the oxygen flow rate (OFR) from 0 % to 30 % using the RF magnetron sputtering (RFMS) technique. Prior to building the p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 HJPDs, the heterojunction band alignment was established and displayed staggered-gap band alignment with a valence band (ΔEV) offset of 1.1 eV and conduction band offset (ΔEC) of 0.65 eV with OFR of 30 %. In response to the UV-C (255 nm) wavelength, the good optoelectronic device properties such as low dark current of ∼10−12 A, large photo-to-dark current (Ilight/Idark) ratio (∼104), responsivity (R) (26.36 mA/W), detectivity (D*) (2.87 × 1010 cmHz1/2W−1), external quantum efficiency (EQE) (1.28 × 104 %), noise-equivalent power (NEP) (0.03 pWHz−1/2), linear dynamic range (LDR) (99.13 dB), and comparable rise (τr) and decay times (τd) of 0.25 s and 0.15 s respectively, were demonstrated for p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 HJPDs with OFR of 30 % and also compared with pristine Pt/β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diode photodetector (SBDPD). The band offset at the p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 interface is employed to explain the improvement of p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 HJPDs. The incorporation of p-CuAlO2 into Pt/β-Ga2O3 SBDPD lead to an improved extraction efficiency of the generated free hole carriers under illumination. The Silvaco TCAD simulator was employed to get insight into the function of the p-CuAlO2 layer. The investigation focused on analyzing the variation profile of the recombination rate and electric field in Pt/β-Ga2O3 SBDPD and p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 HJPD with OFR of 30 %. The outcomes demonstrate the stability and electron transfer impact of staggered gap p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 HJPDs. Our findings show that the p-CuAlO2/β-Ga2O3 HJPDs have a great deal of potential as a candidate structure for the Ga2O3-based modern optoelectronic technologies.

Numerical Investigation on Thermal Performance of Two-Phase Immersion Cooling Method for High-Power Electronics

Numerical Investigation on Thermal Performance of Two-Phase Immersion Cooling Method for High-Power Electronics

Conceptual design of the high-power electron beam irradiator using niobium-tin superconducting cavity

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for high-intensity beams in the field of electron beam irradiation. This includes mass production of nuclear medicine examinations using 99Mo and high-efficiency production through material modification via material irradiation. Although superconducting cavities can achieve high-current beam acceleration, a compact accelerator is desirable for general-purpose irradiation beams. In this paper, we designed a practical 10 MeV, 50 mA high-current beam irradiator using a new Nb3Sn superconducting cavity.

Mechanical regulation to interfacial thermal transport in GaN/diamond heterostructures for thermal switch.

Gallium nitride offers an ideal material platform for next-generation high-power electronics devices, which enable a spectrum of applications. The thermal management of the ever-growing power density has become a major bottleneck in the performance, reliability, and lifetime of the devices. GaN/diamond heterostructures are usually adopted to facilitate heat dissipation, given the extraordinary thermal conduction properties of diamonds. However, thermal transport is limited by the interfacial conductance at the material interface between GaN and diamond, which is associated with significant mechanical stress at the atomic level. In this work, we investigate the effect of mechanical strain perpendicular to the GaN/diamond interface on the interfacial thermal conductance of heterostructures using full-atom non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. We found that the heterostructure exhibits severe mechanical stress at the interface in the absence of loading, which is due to lattice mismatch. Upon tensile/compressive loading, the interfacial stress is more pronounced, and the strain is not identical across the interface owing to the contrasting elastic moduli of GaN and diamond. In addition, the interfacial thermal conductance can be notably enhanced and suppressed by tensile and compressive strains, respectively, leading to a 400% variation in thermal conductance. More detailed analyses reveal that the change in interfacial thermal conductance is related to the surface roughness and interfacial bonding strength, as described by a generalized relationship. Moreover, phonon analyses suggest that the unequal mechanical deformation under compressive strain in GaN and diamond induces different frequency shifts in the phonon spectra, leading to an enhancement in phonon overlapping energy, which promotes phonon transport at the interface and elevates the thermal conductance and vice versa for tensile strain. The effect of strain on interface thermal conductance was investigated at various temperatures. Based on the mechanical tunability of thermal conductance, we propose a conceptual design for a mechanical thermal switch that regulates thermal conductance with excellent sensitivity and high responsiveness. This study offers a fundamental understanding of how mechanical strain can adjust interface thermal conductance in GaN/diamond heterostructures with respect to mechanical stress, deformation, and phonon properties. These results and findings lay the theoretical foundation for designing thermal management devices in a strain environment and shed light on developing intelligent thermal devices by leveraging the interplay between mechanics and thermal transport.

Using a perovskite oxide buffer layer on Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheets for the epitaxial growth of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 for electrode-free thin films

Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheet layers were deposited on Gallium Nitride (GaN)-on-Si substrates by the Langmuir-Blodgett method to obtain (001)-oriented growth of perovskite oxide thin films using pulsed laser deposition. We investigated the influence of 10 nm thick SrTiO3, (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (LSAT) and LaMnO3 films as buffer layers on the structural and ferroelectric properties of subsequentially grown Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) films, which may be used as gate capacitors in high power GaN devices. Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, X-Ray-Diffraction and in-plane polarization experiments were used to determine the influence of the oxide buffer layers on the PZT properties. Highly crystalline dense (001)-oriented PZT films with large in-plane polarizations were obtained using SrTiO3 and LSAT as buffer layers. For SrTiO3 and LSAT we observed an improvement of the structural and ferroelectric properties compared to PZT grown directly on the Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheets and or using a LaMnO3 buffer layer. The improved high-crystallinity PZT films grown on GaN using ultrathin buffer layers could enhance the performance of high-power semiconductor electronics or in other devices where there is a need for a ferroelectric layer without bottom electrode.

Efficient thermal management of high-power electronics via jet-enhanced HU-type manifold microchannel

To efficiently remove the increasingly higher heat fluxes from electronic chips, this numerical study presents an embedded single-phase water-cooled heat sink which consists of a microchannel layer and a jet-enhanced HU-type manifold layer. The manifold features two liquid inlet plenums symmetrically positioned on two opposite sides and some outlets arranged in the middle. In order to reduce the average thermal resistance, the fluid impinging velocity is boosted by narrowing the manifold channel inlet. However, narrower inlet also leads to flow maldistribution which increases the maximum thermal resistance. To address this problem, we demonstrate two approaches: either adding a flat plate at the manifold outlet or adjusting the manifold channel walls to form a tapered pathway. Further, the impact of the plenum and manifold channel inlet profiles on fluid flow and heat transfer is investigated. Negligible difference is found between rectangular and trapezoidal plenums. As to the manifold channel inlet, although similar heat transfer performance is obtained with different shapes, the total pressure drop can be substantially different. To reduce the large pressure drop at the inlet, a semicircular or triangular inlet profile is preferred, instead of a rectangular one. Quantitatively, we show that for a 3 × 3 mm2 heated area, our heat sink can dissipate fluxes up to 2000 W cm−2 with a maximum temperature rise of 65 K and a pressure drop below 40 kPa, which represents one of the highest performances and energy efficiencies reported to date.

Stability and electronic properties of XO (X = Be, Mg, Zn, Cd) biphenylene and graphenylene networks: A first-principles study

The ultrawide bandgap semiconducting property of materials is key to the development of advanced optoelectronic nanodevices with potential applications in flexible and transparent electronics and high-power radio frequency electronics. Here, a series of nonmagnetic porous XO (X = Be, Mg, Zn, and Cd) biphenylene- and graphenylene-type structures are predicted using the first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT). DFT results proved that XO monolayers exhibit excellent energetic, mechanical, dynamic, and thermal stabilities. The Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof calculations show that the XO-biphenylene and graphenylene structures exhibit narrow, wide, ultra-wide, and insulating semiconducting electronic properties. We then investigated the bandgaps dependent on the thickness of the XO layer and found that the bandgaps decrease uniformly as the number of XO-biphenylene and -graphenylene layers increases. These remarkable electronic properties of XO structures expand the potential of porous oxide materials for the development of practical optoelectronic and thermoelectric nanodevices.

Progress in Gallium Oxide Field-Effect Transistors for High-Power and RF Applications.

Power electronics are becoming increasingly more important, as electrical energy constitutes 40% of the total primary energy usage in the USA and is expected to grow rapidly with the emergence of electric vehicles, renewable energy generation, and energy storage. New materials that are better suited for high-power applications are needed as the Si material limit is reached. Beta-phase gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) is a promising ultra-wide-bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor for high-power and RF electronics due to its bandgap of 4.9 eV, large theoretical breakdown electric field of 8 MV cm-1, and Baliga figure of merit of 3300, 3-10 times larger than that of SiC and GaN. Moreover, β-Ga2O3 is the only WBG material that can be grown from melt, making large, high-quality, dopable substrates at low costs feasible. Significant efforts in the high-quality epitaxial growth of β-Ga2O3 and β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 heterostructures has led to high-performance devices for high-power and RF applications. In this report, we provide a comprehensive summary of the progress in β-Ga2O3 field-effect transistors (FETs) including a variety of transistor designs, channel materials, ohmic contact formations and improvements, gate dielectrics, and fabrication processes. Additionally, novel structures proposed through simulations and not yet realized in β-Ga2O3 are presented. Main issues such as defect characterization methods and relevant material preparation, thermal studies and management, and the lack of p-type doping with investigated alternatives are also discussed. Finally, major strategies and outlooks for commercial use will be outlined.

Through-chip microchannels for three-dimensional integrated circuits cooling

Cooling high-power electronics in multilayer integrated circuits (ICs) is challenging for existing cooling methods. In this work, we designed through-chip microchannels (TCMCs) that cross the entire chip perpendicularly to the layers, with water circulating inside to provide direct cooling to each layer. TCMCs are organized in a square array where the pitch and radius of the microchannels are explored. Our computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations show that a pitch ∼ 10 μm and a radius ∼ 1 μm optimize the cooling performance to support a power higher than 104 W/cm2 while the maximum temperature rise remains below 60 K with a water inlet temperature of 300 K. We show that the cooling properties do not change with the number of layers for a given chip thickness which provides flexibility to the functional design of the chip. Though manufacturing may be challenging, TCMCs offer a new way for chip cooling that could provide a leap forward in the performance of multilayer 3D ICs and high-power electronics.

A hybrid slot jet impingement/microchannel heat sink for cooling high-power electronic devices: A combined experimental and numerical study

Jet impingement cooling and microchannel cooling have been extensively adopted as the efficient cooling technologies in the thermal management of high-power electronics. In this research, an optimal hybrid slot jet impingement/microchannel heat sink, integrating the merits of two cooling methods, obtained from multi-objective optimization is machined and tested experimentally. By varying test conditions, the impact of inlet mass flow rate, inlet temperature and heat flux variations on the flow resistance and heat removal capacity of the optimal heat sink are investigated. Moreover, by conducting overall 3D numerical simulation, the internal flow and heat transfer behaviours of the heat sink are also investigated. By analyzing the flow field inside the heat sink, the experimental phenomena are interpreted. Comparing the relative errors between the numerical simulation and experimental measurement values under the same working conditions, it could be observed that the maximum relative error of the pressure drop is about 9.7 %, and the maximum relative error of the average temperature of the heated surface is only 0.9 %. According to the experimental results, as the heat flux is 200 W/cm2, the inlet temperature is 293 K and the inlet mass flow rate is 28 g/s, the average temperature of the heated surface does not surpass 348 K, while the pressure drop is only 2.46 kPa. Additionally, compared with the literature results, the hybrid heat sink obtained after multi-objective optimization in this study realizes a significant enhancement in cooling capacity, while the pumping power to heating power ratio is not significantly increased.

Vertical β-Ga2O3 metal–insulator–semiconductor diodes with an ultrathin boron nitride interlayer

In this work, we demonstrate the high performance of β-Ga2O3 metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) diodes. An ultrathin boron nitride (BN) interlayer is directly grown on the Ga2O3 substrate by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy confirm the existence of a 2.8 nm BN interlayer. Remarkably, with the insertion of the ultrathin BN layer, the breakdown voltage is improved from 732 V for Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes to 1035 V for Ga2O3 MIS diodes owing to the passivated surface-related defects and reduced reverse leakage currents. Our approach shows a promising way to improve the breakdown performance of Ga2O3-based devices for next-generation high-power electronics.

Is SiC a Predominant Technology for Future High Power Electronics?: A Critical Review

Abstract: Due to the magnificent properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC), such as high saturation drift velocity, large operating temperature, higher cut-off and maximum frequency (fT and fmax), high thermal conductivity and large breakdown voltages (BV), it is desirable for high power electronics. With the latest advancements in semiconductor materials and processing technologies, diverse high-power applications such as inverters, power supplies, power converters and smart electric vehicles are implemented using SiC-based power devices. Especially, SiC MOSFETs are mostly used in high-power applications due totheir capability to achieve lower switching loss, higher switching speed and lower ON resistance than the Si-based (Insulated gate bipolar transistor) IGBTs. In this paper, a critical study of SiC MOSFET architectures, emerging dielectric techniques, mobility enhancement methods and irradiation effects are discussed. Moreover, the roadmap of Silicon Carbide power devices is also briefly summarized.

Experimental study on combined heat transfer enhancement due to macro-structured surface and electric field during electrospray cooling

Electrospray (ES) cooling is promising to achieve the high-heat-flux thermal dissipation with a low fluid consumption when using structured surfaces as heat sinks of micro-size and high-power electronics. Nevertheless, available research is still limited in the fundamental of combined heat transfer enhancement owing to the macro-structured surface and electric field. In this study, four macro-structured surfaces machined with cubic pin fins, conical pin fins, wavy fins and straight fins are compared to one flat surface under electric field to shed lights on the combined heat transfer enhancement mechanism during ethanol ES cooling. The experimental results demonstrate that both electric field and surface modification can elevate the critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient. A CHF of 7.93 W/cm2 is achieved by the cubic-pin-fin surface with an applied voltage of 4.5 kV at Ts = 145 °C, corresponding to a 63 % enhancement over the flat surface. The CHFs at first increase and then decline with the increased area ratio (f), and the superior heat transfer performance is achieved when f = 0.79. In the low temperature region (30 °C < Ts < 51 °C), the enhanced convection and bubble formations caused by electric field are deemed as the dominated heat transfer mechanism. The increase in nucleation sites triggered by macro-structured surfaces governs the heat transfer in the mid-temperature region (51 °C < Ts < 119 °C). Whereas, the heat transfer enhancement due to macro-structured surfaces declines in the high temperature region (Ts > 119 °C), possibly as a consequence of the large thermal resistance induced by the Leidenfrost phenomenon.

Significant enhancement of electrical conductivity in boron-doped diamond through HPHT post-annealing treatment

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) is expected as a promising semiconductor candidate for potential application in next-generation high-power and high-voltage electronics. Unfortunately, a feasible strategy that focuses on the improvement of the semiconducting performance of BDD materials is still lacking and remains a fundamental challenge in material science. Thus, we aim to study the stability and adjustment behaviors of boron dopants in BDD single crystals through post-annealing treatment under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions. In this work, our study demonstrates that boron dopants show high structural stability, and no extra complex defects were observed during the HPHT annealing process, a superior advantage for the device application in extreme environments. Our work further reveals that the HPHT post-annealing process is effective to eliminate the intrinsic stress and local lattice strain that were inherently formed during the diamond growth process. This process is accompanied by the enhancement of ionization ratio of boron dopants. The carrier content of one 〈111〉-GS BDD increases by more than ten times after post-annealing at 1000 °C and 5.5 GPa, resulting in significant improvement of conductivity by a factor of 2. This result provides an effective strategy to improve the semiconducting performance of BDD materials through HPHT annealing approach and promote their practical device applications.

Heteroepitaxy of N-polar AlN on C-face 4H-SiC: Structural and optical properties

To date, it has remained challenging to achieve N-polar AlN, which is of great importance for high power, high frequency, and high temperature electronics, acoustic resonators and filters, ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronics, and integrated photonics. Here, we performed a detailed study of the molecular beam epitaxy and characterization of N-polar AlN on C-face 4H-SiC substrates. The N-polar AlN films grown under optimized conditions exhibit an atomically smooth surface and strong excitonic emission in the deep UV with luminescence efficiency exceeding 50% at room temperature. Detailed scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) studies suggest that most dislocations are terminated/annihilated within ∼200 nm AlN grown directly on the SiC substrate due to the relatively small (1%) lattice mismatch between AlN and SiC. The strain distribution of AlN is further analyzed by STEM and micro-Raman spectroscopy, and its impact on the temperature-dependent deep UV emission is elucidated.

Heat Dissipation Design Based On Topology Optimization And Auxiliary Materials

Abstract In this paper, a variable density topology optimization method is used to design a high thermal conductivity path structure for efficient heat dissipation. The temperature and stiffness in the module volume are taken as the objective function. Simulations are carried out to compare with a high-power electronics device heat dissipation. The heat dissipation performance (HDP) of structures optimized topologically is further enhanced through the use of auxiliary materials, including highly thermally conductive coating material and phase change material (PCM). The efficient heat dissipation of the constructed topology optimization model and the effectiveness of the proposed method are verified.

Design, fabrication and measurement of metal-semiconductor field effect transistor based on zinc oxide material

The paper mainly focuses on the design, fabrication and measurement on Zinc Oxide (ZnO)-based Metal-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. The research problem in this study is difficulty on observing the electronic properties of ZnO materials to fabricate the high performance transistor design with non-toxic semiconductor materials. Even though the wide band gap materials of Group III and V possess high performance properties for fabricating the power electronics devices, the harmful impacts could not be reduced. The research solution for the problem statement in this study is emphasized on the non-toxic materials of Group II and VI-based high performance power electronics devices fabrication. The experimental studies of the device fabrication were conducted by Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) process in standard laboratory. The step-by-step procedures for MSFET device fabrication were discussed and the confirmation of developed device fabrication was completed. The approaches on all measurement were completed based on band diagram condition, quantum interference on metal-semiconductor materials, and current-voltage characteristics. The step by step measurement for fabricated device for the proposed structure could be confirmed by standard measurement techniques. The proposed design has been validated for the utilization of high performance applications. The physical properties and physical characteristics for measurement results were confirmed by the theoretical analyses. The numerical analyses have been completed with the help of MATLAB. All results have been proved by recent research works.

Chemical vapor deposition growth of [formula omitted] on Si- and C- face off-axis 4H–SiC at high temperature

Realization of β‐Ga2O3 on a high-thermal-conductivity substrate is crucial to overcome the poor thermal conductivity of β‐Ga2O3 which is one of the major roadblocks against its era in power electronics. We investigated low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) growth on both Si and C- face (0001) 4H–SiC at a high growth temperature of 925 °C using Ga metal and O2 gas source. Growths on C-face 4H–SiC resulted polycrystalline β‐Ga2O3 for the entire O2-flow range, whereas under optimized O2-flow conditions, step flow growth of (−201) β‐Ga2O3 was achieved on Si-face 4H–SiC with 3.7 nm rms surface roughness and rocking curve FWHM of 0.54° at a growth rate reaching 2.48 μm/h 4° off-axis nature of the substrate promoted the growth of some of the in-plane rotational domains while suppressing others. Raman measurements further verified the pure β‐Ga2O3 nature of the grown films. Using a customized LPCVD with solid source Ga, a cost-effective, safe and industrially scalable method was shown to pave the way to enable β‐Ga2O3 heteroepitaxy on 4H–SiC for high-power electronics.