Review of Power Cycling Reliability of GaN HEMTs

With the advantages of high temperature, high efficiency and high figure of merit, GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) becomes more and more popular in power devices market. However, the reliability of GaN HEMTs restricts the extensive application of devices in power converters. The power cycling test is an effective method to assess the reliability of GaN HEMTs under the simulated operation environment, which has been widely applied, especially for commercial devices. The research of the power cycling reliability of GaN HEMTs has been reviewed in this paper, including the method of junction temperature determination, the power cycling method, and so on. The deterioration law of key parameters and failure mechanisms for GaN HEMTs during the power cycling test are summarized. It is instructive for the subsequent research of the GaN HEMTs, which may help the manufacturers improve the device reliability.