Osaka team says diamonds are GaN's best friend
Fabrication of a GaN transistor using diamond substrate has twice heat dissipation properties of SiC
A research team led by Jianbo Liang and Naoteru Shigekawa of the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka Metropolitan University has successfully fabricated GaN HEMTs using diamond as a substrate.
They found the technology has more than twice the heat dissipation performance of transistors of the same shape fabricated on a SiC substrate.
To maximise the high thermal conductivity of diamond, the researchers integrated a 3C-SiC layer, a cubic polytype of SiC, between GaN and diamond. This technique significantly reduces the thermal resistance of the interface and improves heat dissipation.
“This new technology has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and potentially revolutionise the development of power and radio frequency electronics with improved thermal management capabilities,” said Liang.
Reference
'High Thermal Stability and Low Thermal Resistance of Large Area GaN/3C-SiC/Diamond Junctions for Practical Device Processes' by Ryo Kagawa et al; Small (2023)
