Thermal Simulations of High Current β-Ga₂O₃ Schottky Rectifiers

The temperature rise and distribution in large area β-Ga 2 O 3 rectifiers is simulated using self-consistent solution of the partial differential equations governing the physics in the electrical and thermal domains with the Florida Object Oriented Device and Process simulator (FLOODS) TCAD simulator. The effect of forward voltage (0−2.5V) and power (0−5.5W) was examined for the different epitaxial layer and bulk substrate thicknesses, as well as edge termination and heat sink geometry. A higher maximum temperature is seen for the devices with thicker bulk substrates, while the effect of Joule heating was more evident in the thinner epi-layer structures since the resistance decreases and the power generation increases, resulting in a higher temperature. The maximum temperature rise was ∼170K under high power conditions. The heat sink simulation results show a drop in the maximum temperature, where a Cu fin heat sink reduced the maximum temperature by 26.76%.