Granted Patent B2

US 12,324,180 · App. 18/471,263 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Inventors: Yifeng Wu (Goleta, CA); John Kirk Gritters (Santa Barbara, CA)

Assignee: Transphorm Technology, Inc.

H10D30/475H01L23/481H10D62/8503

Abstract

Claims (19)

1. An electronic component, comprising:

an enhancement-mode transistor;

a depletion-mode transistor comprising a conductive substrate; and

a package comprising a conductive structural package base, the package enclosing both the enhancement-mode transistor and the depletion-mode transistor; wherein

a drain electrode of the depletion-mode transistor is electrically connected to a drain lead of the package, a gate electrode of the enhancement-mode transistor is electrically connected to a gate lead of the package, a source electrode of the enhancement-mode transistor is electrically connected to the conductive structural package base; wherein

a gate electrode of the depletion-mode transistor is electrically connected to the conductive substrate by a conductive via, wherein the conductive substrate is directly contacting and electrically connected to the conductive structural package base, and the conductive structural package base is electrically connected to a source lead of the package.

2. The electronic component of claim 1 , wherein the gate electrode of the depletion-mode transistor is electrically connected to the source lead of the package without an external gate wire connector.

3. The electronic component of claim 1 , wherein the depletion-mode transistor comprises a III-N material structure on the conductive substrate.

4. The electronic component of claim 3 , wherein the gate electrode of the depletion-mode transistor is on an opposite side of the III-N material structure from the conductive substrate, and the conductive via extends through the III-N material structure to the conductive substrate.

5. The electronic component of claim 4 , wherein the conductive via is outside of an active region of the depletion-mode transistor.

6. The electronic component of claim 1 , wherein a drain electrode of the enhancement-mode transistor directly contacts and is electrically connected to a source electrode of the depletion-mode transistor, and the enhancement-mode transistor is at least partially over an active region of the depletion-mode transistor.

7. The electronic component of claim 6 , wherein the source electrode of the enhancement-mode transistor is coupled to the gate electrode of the depletion-mode transistor through the conductive substrate.

8. The electronic component of claim 6 , wherein the enhancement-mode transistor has a lower breakdown voltage than the depletion-mode transistor.

9. The electronic component of claim 3 , wherein the III-N material structure comprises a III-N buffer layer, a III-N channel layer, and a III-N barrier layer, wherein the buffer layer is doped with iron, magnesium, or carbon.

10. The electronic component of claim 9 , wherein a compositional difference between the III-N barrier layer and the III-N channel layer causes a lateral 2DEG channel to be induced in the III-N channel layer.

11. The electronic component of claim 9 , wherein the bandgap of the III-N barrier layer is greater than the bandgap of the III-N channel layer.

12. The electronic component of claim 4 , comprising an insulator layer of the depletion-mode transistor formed over the III-N material structure, a source pad of the depletion-mode transistor formed on the insulator layer, and wherein a top surface of the gate electrode of the depletion mode transistor is lower than a bottom surface of the source pad of the depletion mode transistor.

13. The electronic component of claim 12 , wherein a portion of the insulator layer is between the gate electrode and the III-N material structure.

14. The electronic component of claim 12 , wherein the gate electrode extends across a width of a 2DEG channel in the III-N material structure, and the conductive via is positioned to a side of the 2DEG channel such that the 2DEG channel is continuous between the source electrode and the drain electrode.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (231)