Comparison of high voltage and high temperature performances of wide bandgap semiconductors for vertical power devices

Temperature dependent properties of wide bandgap semiconductors have been used to calculate theoretical specific on-resistance, breakdown voltage, and thermal run-away temperature in SiC, GaN, diamond, and Si vertical power devices for comparison. It appears mainly that diamond is interesting for high power devices for high temperature applications. At room temperature, diamond power devices should be superior to SiC only for voltage higher than 30–40 kV, due to the high energy activation of the dopants.