A team of researchers, led by Ankush Bag, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering and Centre for Nanotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, in collaboration with IIT Mandi and the Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems at Technical University Wien, has devised a cost-effective technique for cultivating a specialized semiconductor. This semiconductor holds the potential to significantly improve the efficacy of power electronics in applications requiring high power, such as electric vehicles, high-voltage transmission, traction, and industrial automation. The groundbreaking method enables high-power devices to operate efficiently even under extreme temperatures, reaching 200 ºC, making it a widely applicable innovation.
The research group has created a novel, affordable technology for synthesizing gallium oxide, an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor. This is accomplished using a tailor-made low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) system. Emphasizing the need for this research, Bag said,” Power Semiconductor devices are the heart of every power electronic system and function primarily as efficient switches, toggling ON and OFF to condition incoming power from the grid to be used by end-user. For emerging high-power applications, there is a demand for compound semiconductor materials with an ultra-wide bandgap".
Bag added, “The main challenge was making thin and smooth films out of the material. After multiple trials and rigorous study, we optimized the gallium oxide semiconductor and incorporated it with tin to improve and modulate its conductivity. We have successfully developed superior-quality ultra-wide bandgap compound semiconductors and fabricated two terminal devices. The applications of this technology extend to electric vehicles, high voltage transmission, traction systems, and industrial automation".
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