P-GaN HEMTs Drain and Gate Current Analysis Under Short-Circuit

Gallium Nitride High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (GaN HEMTs) are promising devices for high-frequency and high-power density converters, but some of their applications (e.g., motor drives) require high robustness levels. In this scenario, 600 V normally-off p-GaN gate HEMTs are studied under Short-Circuit (SC) by experiment and physics-based simulations (drift-diffusion and thermodynamic models). A strong drain current reduction (> 70% after saturation peak) and high gate leakage current (tens of mA) are observed. All studied devices withstand the SC test at bus voltages up to 350 V, while fail at 400 V. Furthermore, its understanding is crucial to improving SC ruggedness in p-GaN HEMTs.