Thermal analysis of an α-Ga₂O₃ MOSFET using micro-Raman spectroscopy

The ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) energy (∼5.4 eV) of α-phase Ga₂O₃ offers the potential to achieve higher power switching performance and efficiency than today's power electronic devices. However, a major challenge to the development of the α-Ga₂O₃ power electronics is overheating, which can degrade the device performance and cause reliability issues. In this study, thermal characterization of an α-Ga₂O₃ MOSFET was performed using micro-Raman thermometry to understand the device self-heating behavior. The α-Ga₂O₃ MOSFET exhibits a channel temperature rise that is more than two times higher than that of a GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). This is mainly because of the low thermal conductivity of α-Ga₂O₃ (11.9 ± 1.0 W/mK at room temperature), which was determined via laser-based pump-probe experiments. A hypothetical device structure was constructed via simulation that transfer-bonds the α-Ga₂O₃ epitaxial structure over a high thermal conductivity substrate. Modeling results suggest that the device thermal resistance can be reduced to a level comparable to or even better than those of today's GaN HEMTs using this strategy combined with thinning of the α-Ga₂O₃ buffer layer. The outcomes of this work suggest that device-level thermal management is essential to the successful deployment of UWBG α-Ga₂O₃ devices.