By solving the 2D Poisson’s equation, analytical models are proposed to calculate the surface potential and electric field distributions of lateral power devices with arbitrary vertical doping profiles. The vertical and the lateral breakdown voltages are formulized to quantify the breakdown characteristic in completely-depleted and partially-depleted cases. A new reduced surface field (RESURF) criterion which can be used in various drift doping profiles is further derived for obtaining the optimal trade-off between the breakdown voltage and the on-resistance. Based on these models and the numerical simulation, the electric field modulation mechanism and the breakdown characteristics of lateral power devices are investigated in detail for the uniform, linear, Gaussian, and some discrete doping profiles along the vertical direction in the drift region. Then, the mentioned vertical doping profiles of these devices with the same geometric parameters are optimized, and the results show that the optimal breakdown voltages and the effective drift doping concentrations of these devices are identical, which are equal to those of the uniform-doped device, respectively. The analytical results of these proposed models are in good agreement with the numerical results and the previous experimental results, confirming the validity of the models presented here. By solving the 2D Poisson’s equation, analytical models are proposed to calculate the surface potential and electric field distributions of lateral power devices with arbitrary vertical doping profiles. The vertical and the lateral division voltages are formulized to quantify the breakdown characteristic in completely-depleted and partially -depleted cases. A new reduced surface field (RESURF) criterion which can be used in various drift doping profiles is further derived for obtaining the optimal trade-off between the breakdown voltage and the on-resistance. Based on these models and the numerical simulation , the electric field modulation mechanism and the breakdown characteristics of lateral power devices are investigated in detail for the uniform, linear, Gaussian, and some discrete doping profiles along the vertical direction in the drift region. Then, the mentioned vertical doping profiles of these devices with the same geometric parameters are optimized, and the results show that the optimal breakdown voltages and the effective drift doping concentrations of these devices are identical, which are equal to those of the uniform-doped device, respectively. The analytical results of these proposed models are in good agreement with the numerical results and the previous experimental results confirming the validity of the models presented here.