Demonstration of β-Ga2O3 Heterojunction Gate Field-Effect Rectifier

In this work, a
$\beta $
-Ga
₂
O
₃
field-effect rectifier (FER) with a p-NiO
_x
gate aimed at low conduction loss, low leakage current, and capability of on-chip integration has been demonstrated. The proposed FER exhibits a low turn-on voltage (
${V}_{\text {on}}{)}$
of 0.85 V comparable to Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). The p-NiO
_x
in FER offers an additional conduction path at high forward bias, which enhances the forward current. Compared with the lateral heterojunction diode (HJD) and SBD on the same substrate, the FER shows the best tradeoff between ON-state and OFF-state power dissipation, including lower
${V}_{\text {on}}$
than HJD (~41% of HJD) and lower leakage current than SBD (four orders of magnitude lower). The merits of this structure also extend to the high-temperature operation regime of the device. Good rectification characteristics of FER are observed at elevated temperatures. The proposed FER with low
${V}_{\text {on}}$
, high-voltage blocking capability and process compatibility with field-effect transistors (FETs) has the potential of being used as a low-power loss rectifier in future
$\beta $
-Ga
₂
O
₃
power integrated circuits (ICs).