III-V SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED POWER TRANSISTOR AND START-UP CIRCUIT

Abstract

We disclose a III-nitride semiconductor based heterojunction power device comprising: a first heterojunction transistor formed on a substrate (4) and a second heterojunction transistor formed on the substrate. The first heterojunction transistor comprises: first III-nitride semiconductor region formed over the substrate, wherein the first III-nitride semiconductor region comprises a first heterojunction comprising at least one two dimensional carrier gas; a first terminal (8) operatively connected to the first III-nitride semiconductor region; a second terminal (9) laterally spaced from the first terminal and operatively connected to the first III-nitride semiconductor region; and a first gate region (10) over the first III-nitride semiconductor region between the first and second terminals. The second heterojunction transistor comprises: a second III-nitride semiconductor region formed over the substrate, wherein the second III-nitride semiconductor region comprises a second heterojunction comprising at least one two dimensional carrier gas; a third terminal (19) operatively connected to the second III-nitride semiconductor region; a fourth terminal (16) laterally spaced from the third terminal in the first dimension and operatively connected to the second III-nitride semiconductor region; a first plurality of highly doped semiconductor regions (18) of a first conductivity type formed over the second III-nitride semiconductor region, the first plurality of highly doped semiconductor regions being formed between the third terminal and the fourth terminal; and a second gate region (17) operatively connected to the first plurality of highly doped semiconductor regions. One of the first and second heterojunction transistors is an enhancement mode field effect transistor and the other of the first and second heterojunction transistors is a depletion mode field effect transistor.

Claims

1. A III-nitride semiconductor based heterojunction power device comprising: a first heterojunction transistor formed on a substrate, the first heterojunction transistor comprising: a first III-nitride semiconductor region formed over the substrate, wherein the first III-nitride semiconductor region comprises a first heterojunction comprising at least one two dimensional carrier gas of the second conductivity type; a first terminal operatively connected to the first III-nitride semiconductor region; a second terminal laterally spaced from the first terminal and operatively connected to the first III-nitride semiconductor region; a first gate region being formed over the first III-nitride semiconductor region, and between the first terminal and the second terminal; and a second heterojunction transistor formed on the substrate, the second heterojunction transistor comprising: a second III-nitride semiconductor region formed over the substrate, wherein the second III-nitride semiconductor region comprises a second heterojunction comprising at least one two dimensional carrier gas of the second conductivity type; a third terminal operatively connected to the second III-nitride semiconductor region; a fourth terminal laterally spaced from the third terminal in the first dimension and operatively connected to the second III-nitride semiconductor region; a first plurality of highly doped semiconductor regions of a first conductivity type formed over the second III-nitride semiconductor region, the first plurality of highly doped semiconductor regions being formed between the third terminal and the fourth terminal; a second gate region operatively connected to the first plurality of highly doped semiconductor regions, wherein one of the first and second heterojunction transistors is an enhancement mode field effect transistor and the other of the first and second heterojunction transistors is a depletion mode field effect transistor.

2.-12. (canceled)

13. A heterojunction power device according to claim 1, wherein the second gate region is connected to an internal or external ground or a potential that is near ground.

14. A heterojunction power device according to claim 1, wherein the second gate region is connected to a Kelvin terminal connected to the first terminal.

15.-22. (canceled)

23. A heterojunction chip comprising: the III-nitride semiconductor based heterojunction power device comprising the first heterojunction transistor and the second heterojunction transistor of any preceding claim; an interface circuit operatively connected with the second heterojunction transistor; wherein the interface circuit is monolithically integrated with any of the first or the second heterojunction transistor.

24. A heterojunction chip according to claim 23, wherein the interface circuit is configured to provide one of the following functions: current control function, voltage control function and disable function.

25. A heterojunction chip according to claim 23, wherein the interface circuit comprises one or more current control blocks.

26. A heterojunction chip according to claim 25, wherein the one or more current control blocks comprise a resistive element which comprises a two dimensional electron gas or any existing layer, including metals, from which the heterojunction chip is fabricated.

27. A heterojunction chip according to claim 25, wherein the one or more current control blocks comprise a current source comprising of a low-voltage depletion mode transistor and a resistive element, wherein a source of the low-voltage depletion mode transistor is connected to a first terminal of the resistive element and a gate of the low-voltage depletion mode transistor is connected to a second terminal of the resistive element, such that a second terminal of the resistive element and a drain of the low-voltage depletion mode transistor forms two terminals of each of the current control block.

28. A heterojunction chip according to claim 25, wherein the one or more current control blocks comprise one or more low-voltage diodes, one or more low-voltage transistors with a gate connected to a source or a low-voltage enhancement-mode transistor with a potential divider connected between a drain and source terminal of the enhancement-mode transistor, wherein the midpoint of the potential divider is connected to the gate terminal of the enhancement mode transistor.

29. A heterojunction chip according to claim 25, wherein the one or more current control blocks comprise a low-voltage depletion mode transistor or an enhancement mode transistor in series or in parallel to a resistive element in a current source wherein a gate of said transistor is connected to a node within the integrated pull-down circuit of the regulator and disable unit.

30. A heterojunction chip according to claim 23, wherein the integrated interface circuit comprise one or more regulators to regulate an output voltage to a level required by an internal or external load or to provide an appropriate DC voltage as a supply rail to any of the low-voltage circuitry inside the heterojunction chip or outside the heterojunction chip.

31. A heterojunction chip according to claim 23, wherein the integrated interface circuit comprises one or more disable units which are controlled by internal or external signals in order to disable the start-up supply by turning-off or reducing the current through the second heterojunction transistor (start-up device) in order to reduce the power consumption.

32. A heterojunction chip according to claim 30, wherein the regulator and disable unit comprises one or more auxiliary low-voltage heterojunction transistors with a drain, source and gate; wherein the auxiliary gate region terminal of the auxiliary low-voltage heterojunction transistor is operatively connected to a current control circuit and a pull-down circuit.

33. A heterojunction chip according to claim 32, wherein the pull-down circuit comprises one or more normally-on or normally-off transistors in parallel or in series and several resistors, potential dividers or capacitors.

34. A heterojunction chip according to claim 32, wherein the pull-down circuit comprises a monolithically integrated temperature compensated block of components comprises a resistor in parallel with a series combination between a resistor and a low-voltage heterojunction transistor, such that, when used in conjunction with a potential divider circuit, it provides a circuit behaviour that is less affected by variations in the temperature.

35. A heterojunction chip according to claim 23, further comprising additional capacitors, each forming a capacitance to a third terminal, integrated before and/or after each of the current control blocks and regulator and disable units.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0131] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a mains operated AC/DC switch mode power supply (SMPS) with output voltage regulation, according to the state-of-the-art;

[0132] FIG. 2 shows a schematic circuit diagram of a fly-back converter with an enhancement mode power transistor acting as the main power switch and a high voltage depletion mode transistor acting as a start-up component charging the IC controller decoupling capacitor, according to the state-of-the-art;

[0133] FIG. 3 shows a schematic circuit diagram of an enhancement mode power transistor and a high voltage depletion mode start-up component;

[0134] FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross section of the active area of a state-of-the-art enhancement mode p-GaN HEMT, according to the state-of-the-art;

[0135] FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross section of the active area of a state-of-the-art depletion mode HEMT with a Schottky gate terminal;

[0136] FIG. 6 shows a schematic perspective view of a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0137] FIG. 7A shows a top view of a device according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in which a high voltage transistor and a depletion mode transistor share the same active area;

[0138] FIG. 7B shows a schematic perspective view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 7A;

[0139] FIG. 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a depletion mode device used as a component in an integrated device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0140] FIG. 9A shows a schematic top view of a depletion mode device used as a component in an integrated device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0141] FIG. 9B shows a schematic cross section of the depletion mode device shown in FIG. 9A;

[0142] FIG. 10A shows a top view of a device according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the depletion mode device is a Schottky gate device as shown in FIG. 5;

[0143] FIG. 10B shows a schematic perspective view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 10A;

[0144] FIG. 11 shows a schematic perspective view of a depletion mode device configured to operate in diode mode used as a component in an integrated device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0145] FIG. 12A shows a schematic top view of the layout of a power HEMT with a continuous p-GaN gate monolithically integrated with an anti-parallel diode with a discontinuous p-GaN gate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0146] FIG. 12B shows a schematic top view of the layout of a unit cell of the integrated HEMT/anti-parallel diode device shown in FIG. 12A.

[0147] FIG. 13 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a startup supply circuit including an integrated interface circuit. The integrated interface circuit consists of one or several current control blocks and one or several regulator and disable units connected in series with the first terminal of the depletion mode heterojunction transistor.

[0148] FIG. 14 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a current control block comprising a depletion mode heterojunction transistor and a resistive element.

[0149] FIG. 15 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a regulator and disable unit where the current control block is connected to the source of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor and where the auxiliary heterojunction transistor is a depletion mode transistor.

[0150] FIG. 16 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a regulator and disable unit where the current control block is connected to the drain of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor and where the auxiliary heterojunction transistor is an enhancement-mode transistor.

[0151] FIG. 17 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a pull-down circuit comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor in threshold multiplier configuration and an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor controlled by a disable signal.

[0152] FIG. 18 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a pull-down circuit comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor in threshold multiplier configuration and an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor controlled by a disable signal. In this embodiment, the voltage divider of the pull-down circuit comprises a temperature compensation circuit comprising a current source in parallel with a resistive element.

[0153] FIG. 19 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a regulator and disable unit where the pull-down circuit comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor in threshold multiplier configuration where the voltage divider is connected to the source of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor and where the voltage divider comprises a HEMT in a threshold multiplier configuration.

[0154] FIG. 20 shows a circuit schematic representation of an embodiment of a regulator and disable unit where the pull-down circuit comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor in threshold multiplier configuration where the voltage divider is connected to the drain of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor and where the voltage divider comprises a HEMT in a threshold multiplier configuration.

[0155] FIG. 21 shows a circuit schematic representation of a further embodiment of a regulator and disable unit where the pull-down circuit comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor in threshold multiplier configuration and where the voltage divider of the pull-down circuit is connected to the source of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor and where the voltage divider comprises a current source, formed of a normally-on HEMT and a resistor, and a HEMT in a threshold multiplier configuration. In this embodiment, the output of the voltage divider is the gate terminal of the HEMT which is in threshold multiplier configuration.

[0156] FIG. 22 shows a circuit schematic representation of a further embodiment of a regulator and disable unit where the pull-down circuit comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor in threshold multiplier configuration. In this embodiment, the current control block comprises a restive element connected to the source of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor. Further, it comprises an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor controlled by a disable signal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0157] The present disclosure will be understood more fully from the accompanying drawings, which however, should not be taken to limit the disclosure to the specific embodiments shown, but are for explanation and understanding only.

[0158] FIG. 6 shows a schematic perspective view of the active area of a GaN based semiconductor device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device is presented in three dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction), a second dimension (x-direction) and a third dimension (y-direction).

[0159] In this embodiment, the device comprises a semiconductor (e.g. silicon) substrate 4 defining a major (horizontal) surface at the bottom of the device. It will be appreciated that any other substrates for GaN devices can be used. Examples of alternative substrate material are Sapphire, Silicon Carbide, and GaN.

[0160] Below the substrate 4 there is a substrate terminal 5. The device includes a transition layer 3 formed on top of the semiconductor substrate 4. The transition layer 3 comprises a combination of III-V semiconductor materials acting as an intermediate step to allow the subsequent growth of regions of high quality III-V semiconductor materials. The transition layer, also known as a buffer layer, 3 may comprise a single layer of Al.sub.xGaN.sub.1-xN (with x varying between 0 and 1) or any composition of Al.sub.xGaN.sub.1-xN/GaN creating a multilayer stack. It will be appreciated that the buffer layer 3 may not be used in the device, particularly when the substrate 4 is not Si.

[0161] On top of the transition layer 3 there is formed a semiconductor region. The semiconductor region comprises several layers. A first semiconductor layer 2 is of high quality III-V semiconductor (for example GaN) and this may comprise several layers itself. The GaN semiconductor layer 2 is grown on top of the buffer 3/substrate 4 stack using a suitable growth technique. Examples of these are Metal-Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) and Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE).

[0162] A further semiconductor layer 1 of III-V semiconductor containing a mole fraction of Aluminium is formed on top of the first semiconductor layer 2. The AlGaN layer 1 is formed such that a hetero-structure is formed at the interface between the GaN layer 2 and the AlGaN layer 1 resulting in the formation of a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG).

[0163] The device is formed of a high voltage enhancement mode field effect transistor acting as the main power switch and a high voltage depletion mode field effect transistor acting as a start-up component. The enhancement mode transistor and the depletion mode transistor are separated by an isolation region 20. It prevents undesirable conduction between the two transistors.

[0164] The enhancement mode transistor includes a high voltage drain terminal 9 arranged in physical contact with the AlGaN layer 1. The high voltage drain terminal 9 forms an Ohmic contact to the 2DEG. A low voltage source terminal 8 is also arranged in physical contact with the AlGaN layer 1 and also forms an Ohmic contact to the 2DEG.

[0165] The enhancement mode transistor includes a region of highly p-doped III-V semiconductor 11 formed in contact with the AlGaN semiconductor layer 1. This is formed of p-GaN material in this embodiment. A gate control terminal 10 is configured over the highly doped region 11. The gate terminal consists of a metal contact placed on the p-GaN region 11. The highly doped region 11 is a continuous layer (stripes, or closed shapes around the cells) of a p-type GaN semiconductor placed on the AlGaN layer 1, and the p-type GaN semiconductor 11 is electrically connected to the gate electrode 10.

[0166] The depletion mode transistor also includes a high voltage drain terminal 16 arranged in physical contact with the AlGaN layer 1. The high voltage drain 16 terminal forms an Ohmic contact to the 2DEG. A low voltage source terminal 19 is also arranged in physical contact with the AlGaN layer 1 and also forms an Ohmic contact to the 2DEG. The drain 16 and source 19 terminals consist of Ohmic metal contacts on the surface of AlGaN layer 1 or directly in contact with a good electrical connection to the 2DEG.

[0167] Regions of highly p-doped III-V semiconductor 18 are formed in contact with the AlGaN semiconductor layer 1. These have the function of reducing the 2DEG carrier concentration under the highly doped regions 18 when the device is unbiased, and are formed of p-GaN material in this embodiment. The p-GaN regions 18 are discrete regions and are spaced from each other in the 2nd dimension (the x-direction). The p-GaN regions 18, also known as p-GaN islands, extend in the x-direction in a discontinuous line. The discontinuous layer of a p-type GaN gate is made of islands placed within stripes or closed shapes. The highly p-doped GaN regions 18 may be Magnesium (Mg) doped. The highly p-doped GaN regions 18 extend along an axis which is perpendicular to the axis connecting the source terminal 19 and the drain terminals 16, where the current flows.

[0168] The highly doped layer 18 in the discontinuous gate structure of the depletion mode device may be manufactured in the same process step as the highly doped layer 11 of the enhancement mode device. All p-GaN layers (continuous or discontinuous) can be done in the same process step. The difference between continuous and discontinuous layers is realized by a layout change of the same mask.

[0169] A gate control terminal 17 is configured over the highly doped regions 18 in order to control the carrier density of the 2DEG at the interface of the semiconductor layers 1, 2. All the p-GaN islands 18 of the depletion mode device are connected to the same gate electrode 17. The gate terminal 17 consists of metal contacts placed on the intermittent regions of the p-GaN islands 18. The electrical connection between the high voltage terminal (drain) 16 and the low voltage terminal (source) 19 is determined by a voltage signal applied on the third terminal (gate) 17. The gate control terminal 17 can be either an Ohmic contact or a Schottky contact.

[0170] The discontinuous layer of a p-type GaN gate 17, 18 of the depletion mode transistor is connected to the source terminal 8 of the high voltage enhancement mode field effect transistor. Therefore the source terminal 8 of the enhancement mode transistor is electrically connected to the gate terminal 17 of the depletion mode transistor.

[0171] The drain terminal 9 of the enhancement mode transistor is connected to the drain terminal 16 of the depletion mode transistor.

[0172] The source terminal 19 of the depletion mode transistor is connected to an internal or external decoupling capacitor (not shown) such that the capacitor is being charged when the depletion mode transistor is in the on-state. As the de-coupling capacitor becomes increasingly charged (raising the voltage bias on the source 19 of the depletion mode transistor) the gate-source voltage of the depletion mode transistor becomes increasingly negative. The depletion mode transistor switches to the off-state (i.e. its resistance is greatly increased) as the source 19 voltage approaches the device threshold voltage.

[0173] FIG. 7A shows a top view of a device according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in which a high voltage enhancement mode transistor and a depletion mode transistor share the same active area. This figure shows the device in two dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction) and a second dimension (x-direction). This top view of the device shows the high voltage main transistor and the depletion mode transistor. The continuous p-GaN stripes 11 are present in the gate 10 of the main, enhancement transistor while discontinuous stripes 18 are present in the gate 17 of the depletion mode transistor. The pad layout is shown. The gate 17 of the depletion mode transistor and the source 8 of the main switch share the same pad. The two devices share the same active area and there is no specific separation between them, other than the drain region 9, 16. At the boundary, one side of the drain belongs to the main switch while the other side of the drain belongs to the depletion mode transistor.

[0174] FIG. 7B shows a schematic perspective view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 7A, indicated by the area A.

[0175] FIG. 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a depletion mode device used as a component in an integrated device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0176] The 2DEG is formed along the interface between the GaN layer 2 and the AlGaN layer 1. The gate structure of a discontinuous p-GaN layer containing islands 18 within a stripe modulates the conductive path between the high voltage drain terminal 16 and the low voltage source terminal 19, when a gate voltage is provided. By discontinuous islands, it is meant that between adjacent islands 18 there is no p-GaN layer present, and as such, there is a direct, unobstructed conductive path 13 between the source terminal 19 and the drain terminal 16. However, adjacent islands 18 within a stripe are placed closed enough together across (orthogonal to) the current path 13 such that the potential applied to the gate terminal 17 modulates the conductive region 13 between the islands 18 and thus modulates the direct path between the source 19 and the drain 16.

[0177] The conductive channel between the drain terminal 16 and the source terminal 19 is a two-dimensional electron gas which is formed at the interface of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure 1, 2. The p-doped GaN islands 18 are placed on the AlGaN surface 1 of the heterojunction and at zero gate terminal bias create a depletion of the conductive channel (2DEG) under the heterojunction. An uninterrupted channel is present at zero bias between the source terminal 19 and the drain terminal 16 along the paths 13 where the p-doped GaN layer 18 is not present (between the islands 18). At zero bias the conduction channel is present in regions where the p-GaN layer 18 is not present vertically above.

[0178] When negative bias is applied to the gate terminal 17 with respect to the source terminal 19, the carrier concentration in the conductive channel (region) between the drain terminal 16 and the source terminal 19 is reduced due to the lateral electric field extending from the p-doped GaN islands 18 to the regions between the islands. The lateral electric field is formed in the x-direction, perpendicular to the axis connecting the source 19 and drain 16 terminals. This lateral field depletes the 2DEG and thus increases the 2DEG resistance between the source 19 and the drain 16. The critical gate bias value at which the device is considered to move from the on-state (low resistance) to the off-state (high resistance) is defined as the first threshold voltage. Note that instead of applying a negative potential to the gate 17, it is also possible to keep the gate 17 grounded and apply a positive potential to the source 19 to achieve the same result. Channel modulation such that the device operates as a transistor is achieved through the lateral JFET depletion of the conductive channel in the regions where the p-GaN islands 18 are not placed vertically above, when the gate terminal 17 is increasingly negatively biased.

[0179] Parameters which affect the first threshold voltage include (but are not limited to) the separation between p-doped GaN islands 18, AlGaN layer 1 thickness and aluminium mole fraction of the AlGaN layer 1. Other parameters which affect the specific on-state resistance of the depletion mode transistors are the number of separations between p-doped GaN islands 18 and the length of the p-doped GaN islands 11 with respect to the separation between the islands.

[0180] As the discontinuous highly doped semiconductor layer of the depletion mode device is made of islands 18 and by varying the layout spacing between the discontinuous p-type islands 18, the depletion mode transistor is normally-on until its source terminal 19, connected to a capacitor, becomes elevated at a desired voltage level, after which the device turns off.

[0181] As the gate-source voltage is increased above the first threshold voltage but remaining below a second threshold voltage, the formation of the 2DEG channel spreads from the middle of the pitch between adjacent p-GaN islands 18 towards the edges of the p-GaN gate islands 18. The current continues to increase as the on-state resistance is reduced.

[0182] The depletion mode device features a second threshold voltage which is higher (more positive) than the first threshold voltage. The signature of the second threshold voltage is that of a steep current increase. This second threshold voltage level corresponds to the formation of the 2DEG directly under the p-GaN islands 18 rather than between the islands. A steep increase in the current is seen as the 2DEG spreads under the p-gate islands 18 allowing the current to flow through this region, thus resulting in an increased conduction area. The steepness (or softness) of the current at the second threshold voltage and above the second threshold voltage is reached depends on the ratio between the combined area of the pGaN islands 18 and the combined area of the regions between the pGaN islands (separations). The higher this ratio is the sharper (the steeper) the current increase. If the ratio is low, the current increase, when the second threshold voltage is reached, is smoother. As a result of the steep increase in current there is a steep decrease in the on-state resistance.

[0183] The threshold voltage of the depletion mode device can be adjusted through layout modifications in addition to epitaxy/process modifications. The depletion mode device is therefore a normally-on device (as first threshold voltage is negative), but is characterised by a second steep increase in the current when the second threshold voltage is reached. Furthermore, the normally-on, depletion mode device proposed can allow for an increased positive gate bias voltage to be applied (>7V) before the main on-state conduction channel changes from drain-source to gate-source.

[0184] FIG. 9A shows a schematic top view of a depletion mode transistor used as a component in an integrated device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The depletion mode transistor is similar to that shown in FIG. 8. This figure shows the device in two dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction) and a second dimension (x-direction).

[0185] FIG. 9B shows a schematic cross section of the depletion mode device shown in FIG. 9A, along the cutline shown in FIG. 9A. This figure shows the device in two dimensions: a second dimension (x-direction) and a third dimension (y-direction).

[0186] FIG. 10A shows a top view of a device according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the depletion mode device is a Schottky gate device as shown in FIG. 5. This figure shows the device in two dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction) and a second dimension (x-direction). In this embodiment the depletion mode device has a Schottky contact 12 as the gate contact.

[0187] FIG. 10B shows a schematic perspective view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 10A. The device is presented in three dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction), a second dimension (x-direction) and a third dimension (y-direction).

[0188] FIG. 11 shows a schematic perspective view of a depletion mode device configured to operate in diode mode used as a component in an integrated device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The device is presented in three dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction), a second dimension (x-direction) and a third dimension (y-direction). In this embodiment, the normally-on depletion mode MOSFET with discontinuous p-GaN islands 18 is configured to be used in a diode mode, by connecting the gate 17 and source 19 together. Alternatively, this can be done by connecting the drain 16 and gate 17 together.

[0189] The distance (pitch) between the p-GaN islands 18 can be used to adjust the voltage level at which the diode conducts current in the forward mode. This is particularly advantageous over the state-of-the-art devices where a continuous p-GaN layer is used, which results in a large forward voltage. For example, the pitch between adjacent p-GaN islands 18 (or adjacent pluralities of p-GaN islands in embodiments of the device with multiple stripes of p-GaN islands) can be used to adjust the opening forward voltage to be about 0.3V to 0.5V, which is specific to Schottky diodes in silicon. Schottky diodes are known to be more efficient than bipolar diodes as they offer lower opening forward voltage and very low reverse recovery losses. To avoid a negative opening voltage, which is undesirable for a diode, the pitch between adjacent p-GaN islands 18 in this embodiment is very small (in the orders of tens or hundreds of nanometres).

[0190] A second increase in the current is present at a higher voltage level (higher than the opening voltage level) during forward conduction, when the 2DEG under the p-GaN layer 18 is formed. In order to minimise the on-state resistance in forward conduction, the diode may operate beyond the second threshold voltage.

[0191] The diode shown in this embodiment, with source 19 and gate 17 operatively connected to each other and with a drift region present between the drain side of the gate edge 17 and the drain terminal 16, can be used as a high voltage diode. The diode can also be used as a free-wheeling or anti-parallel diode and can also be monolithically integrated with a normally-off GaN based HEMT.

[0192] FIG. 12A shows a schematic top view of the layout of a power HEMT with a continuous p-GaN gate layer 18 which is monolithically integrated with an anti-parallel diode with a discontinuous p-GaN gate 18, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The device is presented in three dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction), a second dimension (x-direction) and a third dimension (y-direction). This top view of the device shows the high voltage main transistor and the depletion mode transistor. The continuous p-GaN stripes 11 are present in the gate 10 of the main, enhancement transistor while discontinuous stripes 18 are present in the gate 17 of the diode. The two devices share the same active area and there is no specific separation between them, other than the drain region 9, 16. At the boundary, one side of the drain belongs to the main switch while the other side of the drain belongs to the depletion mode transistor.

[0193] FIG. 12B shows a schematic top view of the layout of a unit cell of the integrated HEMT/anti-parallel diode device shown by cell A in FIG. 12A. This figure shows the device in two dimensions: a first dimension (z-direction) and a second dimension (x-direction).

[0194] This shows a multiple finger structure used to integrate an anti-parallel diode with discontinuous p-GaN islands 18. The diode in this example is a diode according to an embodiment of the disclosure, as shown in FIG. 11. The main HEMT device is a normally-off device using a continuous p-GaN layer 11 connected to the gate 26 of the device. The diode (which has its source 19 and its internal gate 17 connected together) features discontinuous p-GaN islands 18. In this particular lay-out example (shown here in top view), in individual finger structures, one side of the drain is part of the main power device, the normally-off p-GaN HEMT, while the other side of the drain 16 acts as the cathode 31 of the anti-parallel diode. The anti-parallel diode has the anode 30 terminal formed as its internal source 19 and internal gate 17 connected together. The drain of the main HEMT is connected to the cathode 31 (drain 16) of the anti-parallel diode while the source of the main HEMT is connected to the anode (source 19 and gate 17) of the anti-parallel diode.

[0195] When the main HEMT device is in the on-state (with an appropriate gate bias and the drain bias above the source bias) the anti-parallel diode is off. The diode is in forward conduction (on-state) when the source terminal of the HEMT, which is connected to anode 30 of the diode, is at a higher voltage than the drain of the HEMT, which is connected to the cathode 31 of the diode. In this embodiment, the opening voltage of the diode can be controlled by the pitch (distance) between adjacent p-GaN islands 18.

[0196] In order to enable a transversal depletion region to deplete the 2DEG between the p-GaN islands 18 when the anode terminal 30 is at 0V (the internal source-gate of the diode is at 0V), the pitch between adjacent p-GaN islands 11 is very small.

[0197] Alternatively, the source terminal 19 of the diode can be configured as a Schottky contact to avoid the diode having a zero or negative opening voltage. In this case the p-GaN islands 18 also serve to lower the leakage in the off-state, lowering the leakage due to tunnelling through the Schottky contact in the blocking mode (reverse bias of the diode) and pushing the electric field away from the Schottky contact (the anode of the diode), towards the cathode.

[0198] The gate contact 17 to the p-GaN islands 18 can be made of Ohmic or Schottky metallisation. The Schottky contact has the advantage of smaller gate leakage currents, while the Ohmic contact is beneficial to increase stability of the device, and to passivate traps in the AlGaN and GaN buffers by hole injection.

[0199] Additionally, the diode mode device described here can be used in the pull-down network during turn-off of the auxiliary gate device described in the PCT publication WO/2019/012293A1 and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0200] In further examples of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a circuit comprising the heterojunction power device described above, and further comprising an integrated interface circuit providing at least one of the following functions: current control function, voltage control function and disable function. This integrated interface provides improved characteristics of the integrated start-up supply circuit as well as improved integration into a power system.

[0201] FIG. 13 shows the schematic of an exemplary embodiment of an integrated interface circuit. The circuit consists of a number of building blocks. The drain of this integrated depletion-mode transistor is connected to the drain of the enhancement mode power transistor and the gate is connected to the source terminal of the enhancement mode power transistor. Note, that the gate of the depletion-mode transistor may be connected to other low-voltage nodes, internal or external, without changing the nature of the invention; for example, the gate of the depletion mode may be connected to an internal or external ground potential or to a potential that is near ground, to an internal or external Kelvin terminal connected to the first terminal or to a low-voltage supply node or using resistive elements. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the current from the source of the depletion-mode transistor 21 is passed through a current control block 51 before it reaches the regulator and disable unit 50. The output of the regulator and disable unit may be a lower, regulated voltage. Alternatively, the regulator and disable unit 50 may disconnect the current source from the load side. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the current will flow through a second current control unit 52 before it reaches the load 53. Before and after every block, additional capacitors 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 may be integrated to improve performance. Note that the combination of three integrated blocks in FIG. 13 is merely an example. More or fewer current control blocks and regulator and disable units are possible without changing the nature of the invention.

[0202] FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a current control block 60 comprising a depletion mode heterojunction transistor 60b and the resistive element 60a where the source of the transistor is connected to the first terminal of the resistive element and the gate is connected to the second terminal.

[0203] FIGS. 15 and 16 show two embodiments of a regulator and disable unit 67, 68. These units comprise an auxiliary heterojunction transistor 63, 64 which may be an enhancement mode transistor or a depletion mode transistor. They further comprise a pull-down circuit 61, 66 which defines the voltage at the gate of said auxiliary heterojunction transistor together with a current control block 62, 65. The current control block may be connected to the source of the auxiliary transistor, as shown in FIG. 15, or to the drain, as shown in FIG. 16. Further, the pull-down block 61, 66 may comprise an input terminal for the disable signal. Increasing the disable signal may reduce the voltage drop across the pull-down circuit and, therefore, increase the voltage drop across the auxiliary transistor or even turn off the auxiliary transistor completely.

[0204] FIGS. 17 to 18 show various exemplary embodiments of a pull-down circuit. FIG. 17 shows an embodiment of a pull-down circuit 77 comprising an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor 74 with the gate connected to the output of a voltage divider 75, 76. FIG. 18 shows an embodiment where a current source 82, 83 is connected in parallel to a resistive element 80 which forms one part of the voltage divider 79, 80. This may change the temperature behaviour of the voltage drop across this part of the voltage divider at a given current. The sizes of the resistive elements and the depletion-mode transistor in the current source may be designed in such a way that the effect of the temperature on the output voltage may partially be compensated.

[0205] FIGS. 19 and 20 show circuit schematic representations of two exemplary embodiments of a regulator and disable units 93, 99 where the voltage dividers 87, 88, 89, 90, 97, 98, 101, 102 of the pull-down circuits are connected to the source, as shown in FIG. 19, or to the drain, as shown in FIG. 20, of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor 91, 95. Further, in these embodiments, the voltage dividers comprise an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor 86, 92, 94, 103 in threshold multiplier configuration. In the embodiment in FIG. 19, the enhancement-mode transistor in threshold multiplier configuration leads to a voltage drop, similar to a Zener diode. Only when the source of the auxiliary transistor reaches this voltage the pull-down circuit is activated. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, the same threshold multiplier arrangement limits the gate voltage of the enhancement-mode transistor forming the pull-down circuit.

[0206] FIG. 21 shows a further embodiment of a regulator and disable unit 112 where the voltage divider of the pull-down circuit is connected to the drain of the auxiliary transistor 107. In this embodiment, the voltage divider comprises an additional current control block 104, 105 and an enhancement transistor 106 in threshold multiplier configuration and where the output of the voltage divider is the gate of the latter transistor.

[0207] FIG. 22 shows a circuit schematic representation of a further exemplary embodiment of a regulator and disable unit 119 where the pull-down circuit comprises an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor 116 in threshold multiplier configuration. In this embodiment, the current control block comprises a restive element 113 connected to the source of the auxiliary heterojunction transistor. Further, it comprises an enhancement mode heterojunction transistor 115 controlled by a disable signal.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0208] 1 AlGaN layer [0209] 2 GaN layer [0210] 3 Transition layer [0211] 4 Substrate [0212] 5 Substrate terminal [0213] 6 SiO.sub.2 passivation [0214] 7 Surface passivation dielectric [0215] 8 Enhancement mode source terminal [0216] 9 Enhancement mode drain terminal [0217] 10 Enhancement mode gate terminal [0218] 11 Enhancement mode p-GaN cap [0219] 12 Schottky gate terminal [0220] 13 Conduction channel at zero bias [0221] 14 Enhancement mode source terminal to depletion mode gate terminal [0222] connection [0223] 15 Enhancement mode drain terminal to depletion mode drain terminal connection [0224] 16 Depletion mode drain terminal [0225] 17 Depletion mode gate terminal [0226] 18 Depletion mode p-GaN regions [0227] 19 Depletion mode source terminal [0228] 20 Isolation [0229] 21 Depletion mode device [0230] 22 Enhancement mode device [0231] 26 Gate pad metal [0232] 27 Source pad metal [0233] 28 Drain pad metal [0234] 29 Active area [0235] 30 Diode anode [0236] 31 Diode cathode [0237] 50 Disable unit [0238] 51 Current control block [0239] 52 Current control block [0240] 53 Resistive element [0241] 54 Capacitor [0242] 55 Capacitor [0243] 56 Capacitor [0244] 57 Capacitor [0245] 58 Capacitor [0246] 59 Voltage source [0247] 60 Current control block [0248] 60a Resistive element [0249] 60b Heterojunction transistor [0250] 61 Pull down circuit [0251] 62 Current control block [0252] 63 Auxiliary heterojunction transistor [0253] 64 Auxiliary heterojunction transistor [0254] 65 Current control block [0255] 66 Pull down circuit [0256] 67 Regulator and disable unit [0257] 68 Regulator and disable unit [0258] 73 Heterojunction transistor [0259] 74 Heterojunction transistor [0260] 75 Resistive element [0261] 76 Resistive element [0262] 77 Pull down circuit [0263] 78 Heterojunction transistor [0264] 79 Resistive element [0265] 80 Resistive element [0266] 81 Heterojunction transistor [0267] 82 Heterojunction transistor [0268] 83 Resistive element [0269] 84 Pull down circuit [0270] 85 Current control block [0271] 86 Heterojunction transistor [0272] 87 Resistive element [0273] 88 Resistive element [0274] 89 Resistive element [0275] 90 Resistive element [0276] 91 Heterojunction transistor [0277] 92 Heterojunction transistor [0278] 93 Regulator and disable unit [0279] 94 Heterojunction transistor [0280] 95 Heterojunction transistor [0281] 96 Current control block [0282] 97 Resistive element [0283] 98 Resistive element [0284] 99 Regulator and disable unit [0285] 100 GaN integrated circuit [0286] 101 Resistive element [0287] 102 Resistive element [0288] 103 Heterojunction transistor [0289] 104 Heterojunction transistor [0290] 105 Resistive element [0291] 106 Heterojunction transistor [0292] 107 Heterojunction transistor [0293] 108 Current control block [0294] 109 Heterojunction transistor [0295] 110 Resistive element [0296] 111 Resistive element [0297] 112 Regulator and disable unit [0298] 113 Resistive element [0299] 114 Heterojunction transistor [0300] 115 Heterojunction transistor [0301] 116 Heterojunction transistor [0302] 117 Resistive element [0303] 118 Resistive element [0304] 119 Regulator and disable unit

[0305] In this disclosure, unless explicitly specified, the heterojunction transistor may be any known transistor based on a heterojunction such as a p-Gate HEMT transistor, or a Schottky gate transistor or an insulated gate transistor such as MISFET (Metal Insulating Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor). The diodes can be Schottky diodes, Zener diodes or pn diodes or diodes made of a transistor by connecting the gate terminal with any of its other terminals. The heterojunction chip or the heterojunction power device described in this disclosure can be referred to as a heterojunction smart power device or heterojunction smart chip or heterojunction power integrated circuit or heterojunction integrated circuit.

[0306] The skilled person will understand that in the preceding description and appended claims, positional terms such as ‘top’, ‘above’, ‘overlap’, ‘under’, ‘lateral’, etc. are made with reference to conceptual illustrations of a device, such as those showing standard cross-sectional perspectives and those shown in the appended drawings. These terms are used for ease of reference but are not intended to be of limiting nature. These terms are therefore to be understood as referring to a device when in an orientation as shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0307] Although the disclosure has been described in terms of preferred embodiments as set forth above, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative only and that the claims are not limited to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art will be able to make modifications and alternatives in view of the disclosure which are contemplated as falling within the scope of the appended claims. Each feature disclosed or illustrated in the present specification may be incorporated in the disclosure, whether alone or in any appropriate combination with any other feature disclosed or illustrated herein.

[0308] Many other effective alternatives will occur to the person skilled in the art. It will be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the described embodiments, but encompasses all the modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.