Wide band gap semiconductor devices

功率器件是电力电子技术的关键推动者，在过去的二十年中，已经从基于硅的功率器件逐渐过渡到基于宽带隙的功率器件。与硅相比，碳化硅（SiC）和氮化镓（GaN）基功率器件都表现出了上级性能，硅已经在一系列功率电子应用中得到了应用。有预测表明，如果所有新安装的电力电子系统中有90%将使用SiC和GaN功率器件，那么这将导致全球能源使用每年减少25%。这些改进是基于其固有的材料特性和器件设计，在以改进的特性工作的这种功率半导体器件中仍存在进一步改进的空间。本项目涉及这种宽带隙材料的新型器件设计。工作的一个重要部分将涉及新的宽带隙晶闸管为基础的设备的设计和建模，主要使用TCAD软件。

A key enabler of power electronics is the power device and in the last two decades there has been a gradual transition from silicon-based power devices to wide band gap-based power devices. Both Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) based power devices have been demonstrating superior performance compared to silicon, which has seen their uptake in a range of power electronics application. There are projections that suggest if 90% of all new power electronic systems installed would use SiC and GaN power devices then this would result in a 25% decrease in energy use globally every year. The improvements are based on their inherent material characteristics and device designs.There is still further scope for improvements in such power semiconductor devices which operated with improved characteristics. This project relates to novel device designs for such wide band gap materials. A significant portion of the work will relate to the design and modelling of novel wide band gap semiconductor-based devices, primarily using TCAD software.