In the last decade, in the world of semiconductors, one of the most significant events was that silicon carbide (SIC) and Gaul nitride (GAN) overtook traditional silicon in the segment of power electronics, conquering the multi-billion dollar market fraction. These materials with their excellent characteristics have called into question the future of SIC and Gan: who will become the next key semiconductor?
Now the attention of scientists is focused on the three applicants: Gaulic oxide, diamond and aluminum nitride (Aln). All these materials have both outstanding qualities and disadvantages that impede their commercialization. However, Aln’s prospects have sharply improved thanks to the development of the University of Naga in Japan, presented at the international conference ethnum on electronic devices (IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting) in San Francisco.
One of the key advantages of Aln is its wide prohibited zone (Bandgap). For example, in Aln this indicator is 6.20 electron-volt, while GAN has 3.40, and SIC has 3.26. This means that the material can withstand very strong electric fields before the destruction of the transistor occurs.
The main problem with Aln was its alloying – making impurities to create an excess of charges. However, Aln chemical alloy strategies have been developed, which significantly expanded its potential. An interesting method is also interesting, which does not require chemical impurities that uses two-dimensional electronic gas.
At the University of Naga, an Algana diode was created, capable of withstanding an electric field of 7.3 megavolts per centimeter – about 2 times higher than that of SIC or GAN. The diode also showed a very low resistance during current. The theoretical maximum of the electric field for the device on ALN is about 15 megavolts per centimeter, and the thermal conductivity of pure aluminum nitride is very high – 320 watts per meter-kelvin (Algan heat-quality is less than 50 watts per meter-kelvin).
Now scientists believe that the commercial implementation of transistors based on Aln is very likely. There are already Aln transistors at their disposal,