Comparative study on characteristics of Si-based AlGaN/GaN recessed MIS-HEMTs with HfO2 and Al2O3 gate insulators

Two types of enhancement-mode(E-mode)AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors(MIS-HEMTs)with different gate insulators are fabricated on Si substrates.The HfO2 gate insulator and the Al2O3 gate insulator each with a thickness of 30 nm are grown by the plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition(PEALD).The energy band diagrams of two types of dielectric MIS-HEMTs are compared.The breakdown voltage(VBR)of HfO2 dielectric layer and Al2O3 dielectric layer are 9.4 V and 15.9 V,respectively.With the same barrier thickness,the transconductance of MIS-HEMT with HfO2 is larger.The threshold voltage(Vth)of the HfO2 and Al2O3 MIS-HEMT are 2.0 V and 2.4 V,respectively,when the barrier layer thickness is 0 nm.The C-V characteristics are in good agreement with the Vth's transfer characteristics.As the barrier layer becomes thinner,the drain current density decreases sharply.Due to the dielectric/AlGaN interface is very close to the channel,the scattering of interface states will lead the electron mobility to decrease.The current collapse and the Ron of Al2O3 MIS-HEMT are smaller at the maximum gate voltage.As Al2O3 has excellent thermal stability and chemical stability,the interface state density of Al2O3/AlGaN is less than that of HfO2/AlGaN.