Current-collapse suppression and leakage-current decrease in AlGaN/GaN HEMT by sputter-TaN gate-dielectric layer

In this paper, we explore the electrical characteristics of high-electron-mobility transistors(HEMTs) using a TaN/AlGaN/GaN metal insulating semiconductor(MIS) structure. The high-resistance tantalum nitride(TaN) film prepared by magnetron sputtering as the gate dielectric layer of the device achieved an effective reduction of electronic states at the TaN/AlGaN interface, and reducing the gate leakage current of the MIS HEMT, its performance was enhanced. The HEMT exhibited a low gate leakage current of 2.15 × 10^(-7) mA/mm and a breakdown voltage of 1180 V. Furthermore, the MIS HEMT displayed exceptional operational stability during dynamic tests, with dynamic resistance remaining only 1.39 times even under 400 V stress.

Design and simulation of a novel E-mode GaN MIS-HEMT based on a cascode connection for suppression of electric field under gate and improvement of reliability

We proposed a novel Al Ga N/Ga N enhancement-mode（E-mode） high electron mobility transistor（HEMT） with a dual-gate structure and carried out the detailed numerical simulation of device operation using Silvaco Atlas. The dual-gate device is based on a cascode connection of an E-mode and a D-mode gate. The simulation results show that electric field under the gate is decreased by more than 70% compared to that of the conventional E-mode MIS-HEMTs（from 2.83 MV/cm decreased to 0.83 MV/cm）. Thus, with the discussion of ionized trap density, the proposed dual-gate structure can highly improve electric field-related reliability, such as, threshold voltage stability. In addition, compared with HEMT with field plate structure, the proposed structure exhibits a simplified fabrication process and a more effective suppression of high electric field.

Influence of channel/back-barrier thickness on the breakdown of AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs

The leakage current and breakdown voltage of AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN high electron mobility transistors on silicon with different GaN channel thicknesses were investigated.The results showed that a thin GaN channel was beneficial for obtaining a high breakdown voltage,based on the leakage current path and the acceptor traps in the AlGaN back-barrier.The breakdown voltage of the device with an 800 nm-thick GaN channel was 926 V@1 m A/mm,and the leakage current increased slowly between 300 and 800 V.Besides,the raising conduction band edge of the GaN channel by the AlGaN back-barrier lead to little degradation for sheet 2-D electron gas density,especially,in the thin GaN channel.The transfer and output characteristics were not obviously deteriorated for the samples with different GaN channel thickness.Through optimizing the GaN channel thickness and designing the Al GaN back-barrier,the lower leakage current and higher breakdown voltage would be possible.