Background Aluminum nitride (AlN) is a promising ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor for next-generation power electronics due to its remarkable material attributes, including the largest bandgap in the UWBG semiconductor family, high breakdown field, and superior thermal conductivity. In recent years, AlN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) have already...

Background Silicon (Si) is the most widely used semiconductor for many reasons including its abundance, cost-effectiveness, and excellent electrical properties. However, its lower breakdown voltage and thermal limitations make it less suitable for high-power, high- frequency and high-temperature applications. The uniformity in silicon's crystal...

Background Beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) has become a promising candidate for high-power, high-voltage, and high-frequency applications due to its ultrawide bandgap (-4.8 eV), high critical electric field (-8 MV/cm), and large Baliga’s figure of merit. Compared with lateral devices such as high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), vertical...

Background GaN-based power electronics has been under extensive research due to GaN’s large bandgap, high breakdown electric field (Eb), and large Baliga’s figure of merit (BFOM). With the availability of high-quality bulk GaN substrates, GaN vertical devices have become prominent candidates for next-generation power applications, capable...

Background Due to GaN’s large bandgap, high breakdown electric field (Eb), and large Baliga’s figure of merit (BFOM), GaN-based power electronics have attracted interest for high-voltage, high-power, and efficient power conversion applications. High-voltage power diodes often demand termination techniques to mitigate the premature breakdown...

Background The wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) has attracted considerable attention for efficient power conversion applications due to its large bandgap (3.4 eV), high breakdown electric field (~3.0 MV/cm) and high Baliga’s figure of merit (~1000 times larger than that of Si). Previously, due to the lack of native GaN substrates,...

Background Resistive random access memory (RRAM) has become one of the most promising memory types due to its scalability, low programming voltage, and fast write/read speeds. For large-capacity, nonvolatile memory applications, the cross-point (or crossbar) array is an attractive RRAM architecture. However, sneak paths—unintended currents flowing...

Aluminum Nitride (AlN) Power Devices Background Wurtzite AIN has the largest bandgap (6.2 eV) among the wide bandgap semiconductor family including SiC (3.3 eV), GaN (3.4 eV), β-Ga2O3 (4.8 eV) and diamond (5.5 eV), which are attractive for various optoelectronic and electronic applications. However, due to the challenges in material growth and...