High Breakdown Voltage Undoped AlGaN–GaN Power HEMT on Sapphire Substrate and Its Demonstration for DC–DC Converter Application

Undoped AlGaN-GaN power high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on sapphire substrate with 470-V breakdown voltage were fabricated and demonstrated as a main switching device for a high-voltage dc-dc converter. The fabricated power HEMT realized a high breakdown voltage with a field plate structure and a low on-state resistance of 3.9 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/, which is 10 /spl times/ lower than that of conventional Si MOSFETs. The dc-dc converter operation of a down chopper circuit was demonstrated using the fabricated device at the input voltage of 300 V. These results show the promising possibilities of the AlGaN-GaN power HEMTs on sapphire substrate for future switching power devices.