As GaN electronic devices have shown various applications for high-power and high-frequency applications, growing concerns about the reliability of GaN-based power electronic devices have been raised in the past few years. For example, when these devices are under operation, the self-heating problem severely limits their performance and lifetime. It is of great importance to prudently assess the device heating problem if a reliable power electronic device is to be developed.
These transistors, also called eGaN FETs, are built by growing a thin layer of GaN on top of a standard silicon wafer. This allows the eGaN FETs to maintain costs similar to silicon power MOSFETs, but with the superior electrical performance GaN.