A Co-Design Approach to Understanding the Impact of Ultra-Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Material Properties on Power Device Performance

Ultra-Wide-Bandgap semiconductors hold great promise for future power conversion applications. Figures of Merit (FOMs) are often used as a first means to understand the impact of semiconductor material parameters on power semiconductor performance, and in particular the Unipolar (or Baliga) FOM is often cited for this purpose. However, several factors of importance for Ultra-Wide-Bandgap semiconductors are not considered in the standard treatment of this FOM. For example, the Critical Field approximation has many shortcomings, and alternative transport mechanisms and incomplete dopant ionization are typically neglected. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at incorporating some of these effects into more realistic FOM calculations.