Study of drain-induced channel effects in vertical GaN junction field-effect transistors

Abstract A normally-off vertical gallium nitride (GaN) junction field-effect transistor (JFET) is demonstrated in this work. The device shows an on/off current ratio of 3.6 × 10 10 , a threshold voltage ( V TH ) of 1.64 V, and a specific on-resistance ( R ON,SP ) of 1.87 mΩ·cm 2 . Drain-induced channel effects were proposed to explain the change in the gate current at different drain voltages. Drain current decline in the output characteristics and the reverse turn-on between drain and source can be explained by effects. A technological computer-aided design was used to simulate the change of the depletion region and confirm the explanation. Detailed analyses of the channel effects provide a reference for the design of novel structures. The characteristics at different temperatures demonstrated the stability of threshold voltage and specific on-resistance, thus indicating the great potential of applications in switching power circuits of vertical GaN JFETs.