Vertical power devices
Ga₂O₃ SBDs and normally-off vertical MOSFETs that combine multi-kilovolt blocking, low conduction loss, and compact chip area.
Extreme Power & Integrated Devices LaboratoryMenu
Research 02 · Extreme & power electronics
Vertical powerBuilt for extremes
EPID translates ultra-wide bandgap materials into vertical switches and sensors that control high voltage, resolve invisible radiation, and remain dependable where heat, electric field, and energetic particles challenge ordinary electronics.
Extreme power platformVertical SBDPower MOSFETDUV · X-ray · Space
Overview
Control more powerSurvive more stress
We co-design device geometry, interfaces, thermal pathways, and reliability so that material advantages become measurable system-level performance.
Extreme-environmental devices
Solar-blind DUV and direct X-ray imagers designed for weak signals, low standby power, high temperature, and harsh operating conditions.
Radiation-hardened UWBGs
Materials, devices, and circuits engineered against total ionizing dose, displacement damage, and destructive single-event effects in space.
Device architecture
Current flows verticallyPerformance scales upward
Vertical conduction uses the chip thickness for voltage blocking and the device area for current, enabling compact high-power rectifiers and switches.
01Vertical Power SBD3D device view
Field plate and mesa termination spread the surface field while N-implanted rings suppress the anode-edge field peak.
02Vertical Power MOSFET3D device view
ALD Al₂O₃ wraps each fin as the gate dielectric; narrow fins deplete at zero bias, while N-implanted CBL regions confine the vertical current path.
Thickness and net donor density set the blocking-voltage and on-resistance trade-off.
Field plates, junction terminations, trenches, and guard structures move peak field away from vulnerable edges.
Contact barriers, gate dielectrics, and interface traps govern leakage, threshold stability, and dynamic loss.
Substrate thinning, backside contacts, heat spreaders, and heterogeneous integration address Ga₂O₃'s low thermal conductivity.
01
Vertical rectifier
Power SBDs
Low-loss unipolar rectification with multi-kilovolt blocking and robust surge capability
Anode contact↓Edge termination↓n⁻ Ga₂O₃ drift layer↓n⁺ substrate · cathode
- Schottky barrier and interface-state control
- Field plates, mesa termination, and N-implanted protection rings
- Trench RESURF and p-NiO junction-barrier structures
- Drift-layer doping, thickness, and crystal orientation
- Surge current, dynamic loss, and forward-stress stability
Research targetsLow VONLow RON,spMulti-kV BVLow leakageSurge robustness
02
Vertical switch
Power MOSFETs
Normally-off electrostatic control for safe, fast, and efficient high-voltage switching
Source contact↓Gate oxide · fin channel↓n⁻ Ga₂O₃ drift layer↓n⁺ substrate · drain
- Normally-off operation through fin depletion
- Vertical FinFET, trench MOSFET, and CAVET architectures
- Gate dielectric, interface traps, and threshold stability
- Source/drain contacts and N-implanted current-blocking layers
- Corner-field control, self-heating, and switching reliability
Research targetsNormally-offStable VTHHigh IONFast switchingThermal stability
2025–2026 direction
Beyond a voltage recordToward a usable device
The frontier is shifting from isolated breakdown demonstrations to manufacturable architectures with current capability, switching stability, and mission-level reliability.
Edge and corner control
High-k bilayer field plates, implanted protection rings, JTE, and trench RESURF suppress premature breakdown.
Normally-off vertical fins
Sub-micron fin depletion enables enhancement-mode switching without a native p-type Ga₂O₃ body.
Barrier and ohmic engineering
Surface preparation, anisotropic contacts, and heterojunctions balance turn-on voltage, leakage, and stability.
Dynamic and destructive stress
Surge, forward-bias degradation, high temperature, and single-event burnout are designed into the device from the start.
Extreme-environmental devices
Detect the invisibleOperate through extremes
UWBG devices combine low intrinsic carrier density, high breakdown field, and radiation response for imaging and electronics beyond conventional environments.
Solar-blind imaging
Deep-ultraviolet devices
β- and α-Ga₂O₃ photodiodes, phototransistors, and detector arrays for sub-280 nm imaging with ultra-low dark current and strong visible-light rejection.
- Weak-signal gain and avalanche concepts
- Fast response and array uniformity
- Self-powered and high-temperature sensing
Direct conversion
X-ray detection & imaging
High-density Ga₂O₃ crystals and epitaxial films convert X-ray photons directly into charge for low-dose dosimetry and pixelated radiographic imaging.
- Schottky and heterojunction detectors
- Trap-controlled charge collection
- Low-noise pixels and imaging readout
Space electronics
Radiation-hardened UWBG devices
Power switches and sensors are evaluated under protons, neutrons, heavy ions, electrons, and ionizing radiation to reveal failure physics and harden operation.
- TID and displacement-damage response
- Single-event burnout and edge hot spots
- Defect recovery, derating, and hardening by design
Reliability platform
Stress MeasureUnderstand Harden
We reproduce electrical, thermal, optical, and radiation stress; locate the physical failure path; and return the learning to materials and device design.
Stress→Characterize→Model→Redesign
High-field blocking, surge current, repetitive switching, bias-temperature stress
Self-heating, extreme temperature, thermal cycling, interface resistance
Protons, neutrons, heavy ions, electrons, X-rays, and gamma rays
DLTS, low-frequency noise, emission microscopy, TEM, TCAD, and particle transport
Join EPID
Engineer devices for the hardest missions
We welcome students and researchers interested in vertical power devices, DUV and X-ray imaging, radiation effects, reliability physics, and extreme electronics.
Contact EPID ↗