Interest in wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), gallium oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ) and diamond has increased due to their ability to deliver high power, high switching frequency and low loss electronic devices for power conversion applications. To meet these requirements, semiconductor material defects, introduced during growth and fabrication, must be minimized. Otherwise, theoretical limits of operation cannot be achieved. In this dissertation, the non-ideal current- voltage (IV) behavior of GaN-based Schottky diodes is discussed first. Here, a new model is developed to explain better the temperature dependent performance typically associated with a multi-Gaussian distribution of barrier heights at the metal-semiconductor interface [Section 3.1]. Application of this model gives researches a means of understanding not only the effective barrier distribution at the MS interface but also its voltage dependence. With this information, the consequence that material growth and device fabrication methods have on the electrical characteristics can be better understood. To show its applicability, the new model is applied to Ru/GaN Schottky diodes annealed at increasing temperature under normal laboratory air, revealing that the origin of excess reverse leakage current is attributed to the low-side inhomogeneous barrier distribution tail [Section 3.2]. Secondly, challenges encountered during MOCVD growth of low-doped GaN drift layers for high-voltage operation are discussed with focus given to ongoing research characterizing deep-level defect incorporation by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and deep level optical spectroscopy (DLOS) [Section 3.3 and 3.4]. It is shown that simply increasing TMGa so that high growth rates (>4 µm/hr) can be achieved will cause the free carrier concentration and the electron mobilities in grown drift layers to decrease. Upon examination of the deep-level defect concentrations, it is found that this is likely caused by an increase in 4 deep level defects states located at E C - 2.30, 2.70, 2.90 and 3.20 eV. Finally, samples where the ammonia molar flow rate is increased while ensuring growth rate is kept at 2 µm/hr, the concentrations of the deep levels located at 0.62, 2.60, and 2.82 eV below the conduction band can be effectively lowered. This accomplishment marks an exciting new means by which the intrinsic impurity concentration in MOCVD-grown GaN films can be reduced so that >20 kV capable devices could be achieved. / Doctor of Philosophy / We constantly rely on electronics to help assist us in our everyday lives. However, to ensure functionality we require that they minimize the amount of energy lost through heat during operation. One contribution to this inefficiency is incurred during electrical power conversion. Examples of power conversion include converting from the 120 V wall outlet to the 5 V charging voltage used by cellphones or converting the fluctuating voltage from a solar panel (due to varying sun exposure) to the 120 V AC power found in a typical household. Electrical circuits can be simply designed to accomplish these conversions; however, consideration to every component must be given to ensure high efficiency. A popular example of an electrical power conversion circuit is one that switches the input voltage on and off at high rates and smooths the output with an inductor/capacitor network. A good analogy of this process is trying to create a small stream of water from a fire hydrant which can either be off or on at full power. Here we can use a small cup but turning the fire hydrant on and trying to fill the cup will destroy it. However, if the fire hydrant is pulsed on and off at very short intervals (1 µs), its possible to fill the cup without damaging it or having it overflow. Now, under ideal circumstances if a small hole is poked in the bottom of the cup and the interval of the fire hydrant is timed correctly, a small low power stream of water is created without overflowing the cup and wasting water. In this analogy, a devices capable of switching the stream of water on and off very fast would need to be implemented. In electrical power conversion circuits this device is typically a transistor and diode network created from a semiconducting material. Here, similar to the fire hydrant analogy, a switch would need to be capable of holding off the immense power when in the off position and not impeding the powerful flow when in the on position. The theoretical limit of these two characteristics is dependent on the material properties of the switch where typically used semiconductors include silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), or gallium nitride (GaN). Currently, GaN is considered to be a superior option over Si or SiC to make the power semiconductor switching device, however research is still required to remove non-ideal behavior that ultimately effects power conversion efficiency. In this work, we first examine the spurious behavior in GaN-based Schottky diodes and effectively create a new model to describe the observed behavior. Next, we fabricated Ru/GaN Schottky diodes annealed at different temperatures and applied the model to explain the room-temperature electrical characteristics. Finally, we grew GaN under different conditions (varying TMGa and ammonia) so that quantum characteristics, which have been shown to affect the overall ability of the device, could be measured.

En raison de l'attrait croissant pour les applications haute tension, haute tempé-rature et haute fréquence, le carbure de silicium (SiC) continue d'attirer l'attention du monde entier comme l'un des candidats les plus compétitifs pour remplacer le sili-cium dans le champ électrique de puissance. Entre-temps, il est important de carac-tériser les défauts des semi-conducteurs et d'évaluer leur influence sur les dispositifs de puissance puisqu'ils sont directement liés à la durée de vie du véhicule porteur. De plus, la fiabilité, qui est également affectée par les défauts, devient une question incontournable dans le domaine de l'électricité de puissance.Les défauts, y compris les défauts ponctuels et les défauts prolongés, peuvent introduire des niveaux d'énergie supplémentaires dans la bande passante du SiC en raison de divers métaux comme le Ti, le Fe ou le réseau imparfait lui-même. En tant que méthode de caractérisation des défauts largement utilisée, la spectroscopie à transitoires en profondeur (DLTS) est supérieure pour déterminer l'énergie d'activa-tion Ea , la section efficace de capture Sigma et la concentration des défauts Nt ainsi que le profil des défauts dans la région d'épuisement grâce à ses divers modes de test et son analyse numérique avancée. La détermination de la hauteur de la barrière Schottky (HBS) prête à confusion depuis longtemps. Outre les mesures expérimentales selon les caractéristiques I-V ou C-V, différents modèles ont été proposés, de la distribution gaussienne du HBS au modèle de fluctuation potentielle. Il s'est avéré que ces modèles sont reliés à l'aide d'une hauteur de barrière à bande plate Phi_BF . Le tracé de Richardson basé sur Phi_BF ainsi que le modèle de fluctuation potentielle deviennent un outil puissant pour la caractérisation HBS. Les HBSs avec différents contacts métalliques ont été caractéri-sés, et les diodes à barrières multiples sont vérifiées par différents modèles. Les défauts des électrons dans le SiC ont été étudiés avec des diodes Schottky et PiN, tandis que les défauts des trous ont été étudiés dans des conditions d'injec-tion forte sur des diodes PiN. 9 niveaux d'électrons et 4 niveaux de trous sont com-munément trouvés dans SiC-4H. Une relation linéaire entre le Ea extrait et le log(sigma) indique l'existence de la température intrinsèque de chaque défaut. Cependant, au-cune différence évidente n'a été constatée en ce qui concerne l'inhomogénéité de la barrière à l'oxyde d'éther ou le métal de contact. De plus, les pièges à électrons près de la surface et les charges positives fixes dans la couche d'oxyde ont été étudiés sur des MOSFET de puissance SiC par polarisation de porte à haute température (HTGB) et dose ionisante totale (TID) provoquées par irradiation. Un modèle HTGB-assist-TID a été établi afin d'ex-plain l'effet de synergie. / Due to the increasing appeal to the high voltage, high temperature and high fre-quency applications, Silicon Carbide (SiC) is continuing attracting world’s attention as one of the most competitive candidate for replacing silicon in power electric field. Meanwhile, it is important to characterize the defects in semiconductors and to in-vestigate their influences on power devices since they are directly linked to the car-rier lifetime. Moreover, reliability that is also affected by defects becomes an una-voidable issue now in power electrics. Defects, including point defects and extended defects, can introduce additional energy levels in the bandgap of SiC due to various metallic impurities such as Ti, Fe or intrinsic defects (vacancies, interstitial…) of the cristalline lattice itself. As one of the widely used defect characterization method, Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) is superior in determining the activation energy Ea , capture cross section sigma and defect concentration Nt as well as the defect profile in the depletion region thanks to its diverse testing modes and advanced numerical analysis. Determination of Schottky Barrier Height (SBH) has been confusing for long time. Apart from experimental measurement according to I-V or C-V characteristics, various models from Gaussian distribution of SBH to potential fluctuation model have been put forward. Now it was found that these models are connected with the help of flat-band barrier height Phi_BF . The Richardson plot based on Phi_BF along with the potential fluctuation model becomes a powerful tool for SBH characterization. SBHs with different metal contacts were characterized, and the diodes with multi-barrier are verified by different models. Electron traps in SiC were studied in Schottky and PiN diodes, while hole traps were investigated under strong injection conditions in PiN diodes. 9 electron traps and 4 hole traps have been found in our samples of 4H-SiC. A linear relationship between the extracted Ea and log(sigma) indicates the existence of the intrinsic temper-ature of each defects. However, no obvious difference has been found related to ei-ther barrier inhomogeneity or contact metal. Furthermore, the electron traps near in-terface and fixed positive charges in the oxide layer were investigated on SiC power MOSFETs by High Temperature Gate Bias (HTGB) and Total Ionizing Dose (TID) caused by irradiation. An HTGB-assist-TID model was established in order to ex-plain the synergetic effect.