DIAMOND POWER TRANSISTOR PERFORMANCE

The electrical characteristics of various diamond power device structu res have been analysed using a two-dimensional numerical simulator cod e for semiconductor devices. The convergence of the simulator for diam ond-based devices has been demonstrated and the simulation results ind icate a superior power-handling capability of the diamond devices comp ared with equivalent silicon devices. In vertical recessed gate diamon d power junction field effect transistors a very high current density and a high transconductance can be achieved. In the case of silicon an d diamond devices having equivalent breakdown voltages the size of the diamond device can be reduced significantly. However, in small vertic al structures the appearance of the space-charge-limited current stron gly reduces the gate control of the current. In lateral diamond power metal-semiconductor field effect transistors the gate control is good even in small 1000 V devices, which also have a very low on state resi stance 7 mOMEGA cm2.