[paper] Modeling Power GaN-HEMTs in SPICE

Utkarsh Jadli, Faisal Mohd-Yasin, Hamid Amini Moghadam, Peyush Pande*, Mayank Chaturvedi and Sima Dimitrijev

Modeling Power GaN-HEMTs Using Standard MOSFET Equations and Parameters in SPICE

Electronics 2021, 10, 130

DOI: 10.3390/electronics10020130

Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia;

*Electronics Department, Graphic Era (Deemed to Be University), Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248002, India;

Abstract: The device library in the standard circuit simulator (SPICE) lacks a gallium nitride based high-electron-mobility-transistor (GaN-HEMT) model, required for the design and verification of power-electronic circuits. This paper shows that GaN-HEMTs can be modeled by selected equations from the standard MOSFET LEVEL3 model in SPICE. A method is proposed for the extraction of SPICE parameters in these equations. The selected equations and the proposed parameter-extraction method are verified with measured static and dynamic characteristics of commercial GaN-HEMTs. Furthermore, a double pulse test is performed in LTSpice and compared to its manufacturer model to demonstrate the effectiveness of the MOSFET LEVEL3 model. The advantage of the proposed approach to use the MOSFET LEVEL3 model, in comparison to the alternative behavioral-based model provided by some manufacturers, is that users can apply the proposed method to adjust the parameters of the MOSFET LEVEL3 model for the case of manufacturers who do not provide SPICE models for their HEMTs.

Fig: Internal cross-sectional structure of GaN-HEMT

Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge the Innovative Manufacturing Co- operative Research Centre (IMCRC) for providing a PhD scholarship to the first author. We also acknowledge the School of Engineering and Built Environments (EBE) of Griffith University for funding this project. This work was performed in part at the Queensland node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano- and micro-fabrication facilities for Australia’s researchers.