Measurement of temperature in active high-power AlGaN/GaN HFETsusing Raman spectroscopy

We report on the noninvasive measurement of temperature, i.e., self-heating effects, in active AlGaN/GaN HFETs grown on sapphire and SiC substrates. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to produce temperature maps with ≈1 μm spatial resolution and a temperature accuracy of better than 10°C. Significant temperature rises up to 180°C were measured in the device gate-drain opening. Results from a three-dimensional (3-D) heat dissipation model are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data. Comparison of devices fabricated on sapphire and SiC substrates indicated that the SiC substrate devices had ~5 times lower thermal resistance     

High-power 10-GHz operation of AlGaN HFET's on insulating SiC

We report the first high-power RF characterization of AlGaN HFET's fabricated on electrically insulating SiC substrates. A record total power of 2.3 W at 10 GHz was measured from a 1280-μm wide HFET at V _ds=33 V. An excellent RF power density of 2.8 W/mm was measured on a 320-μm wide HFET. These values are a result of the high thermal conductivity of SiC, relative to the typical substrate, sapphire     

High-temperature performance of AlGaN/GaN HFETs on SiC substrates

The performance results AlGaN-GaN Heterostructure Field Effect Transistors (HFETs) grown on SiC substrates are reported. The maximum transconductance of these devices was 142 mS/mm and the source-drain current was as high as 0.95 A/mm. The maximum dissipated DC power at room temperature was 0.6 MW/cm², which is more than three times higher than that in similar devices grown on sapphire. This high thermal breakdown threshold was achieved primarily due to the effective heat sink through the SiC substrate. These devices demonstrated stable performance at elevated temperatures up to 250°C. The source-drain current saturation was observed up to 300°C. The leakage current in the below threshold regime was temperature-activated with an activation energy of 0.38 eV     

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrates with fT of 32/20GHz and fmax of 27/22 GHz for 0.5/0.7 μm gate length

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrates have been realised and their static and small signal characteristics investigated. The AlGaN/GaN (x=0.23) material structures were grown on (111) p-Si by LP-MOVPE. Devices exhibit a saturation current density of 0.53 to 0.68 A/mm and a peak extrinsic transconductance of 110 mS/mm. A unity gain frequency of 20 and 32 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation of 22 and 27 GHz are obtained for devices with a gate length of 0.7 and 0.5 μm, respectively. These values are the highest reported so far on AlGaN/GaN/Si HEMTs and are comparable to those known for devices using sapphire and SiC substrates     

Power Performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs Grown on SiC by Ammonia-MBE at 4 and 10 GHz

In this letter, we report on the microwave power and efficiency performance of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown by ammonia molecular beam epitaxy (ammonia-MBE) on SiC substrates. At 4 GHz, an output power density of 11.1 W/mm with an associated power-added efficiency (PAE) of 63% was measured at V _ds = 48 V on passivated devices. At 10 GHz, an output power density of 11.2 W/mm with a PAE of 58% was achieved for V _ds = 48 V. These results are the highest reported power performance for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown by ammonia-MBE and the first reported for ammonia-MBE on SiC substrates.     

Power performance of AlGaN-GaN HEMTs grown on SiC by plasma-assisted MBE

We report AlGaN-GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on SiC substrates with excellent microwave power and efficiency performance. The GaN buffers in these samples were doped with carbon to make them insulating. To reduce gate leakage, a thin silicon nitride film was deposited on the AlGaN surface by chemical vapor deposition. At 4 GHz, an output power density of 6.6 W/mm was obtained with 57% power-added efficiency (PAE) and a gain of 10 dB at a drain bias of 35 V. This is the highest PAE reported until now at 4 GHz in AlGaN-GaN HEMTs grown by MBE. At 10 GHz, we measured an output power density of 7.3 W/mm with a PAE of 36% and gain of 7.6 dB at 40-V drain bias.     

Time-Resolved Temperature Measurement of AlGaN/GaN Electronic Devices Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

We report on the development of time-resolved Raman thermography to measure transient temperatures in semiconductor devices with submicrometer spatial resolution. This new technique is illustrated for AlGaN/GaN HFETs and ungated devices grown on SiC and sapphire substrates. A temporal resolution of 200 ns is demonstrated. Temperature changes rapidly within sub-200 ns after switching the devices on or off, followed by a slower change in device temperature with a time constant of ~10 and ~140 mus for AlGaN/GaN devices grown on SiC and sapphire substrates, respectively. Heat diffusion into the device substrate is also demonstrated     

输出功率密度为2.23W/mm的X波段AlGaN/GaN功率HEMT器件

MOCVD技术在蓝宝石衬底上制备出具有高迁移率GaN沟道层的AlGaN/GaN HEMT材料.高迁移率GaN外延层的室温迁移率达741cm2/(V·s),相应背景电子浓度为1.52×1016cm-3;非有意掺杂高阻GaN缓冲层的室温电阻率超过108Ω·cm,相应的方块电阻超过1012Ω/□.50mm HEMT外延片平均方块电阻为440.9Ω/□,方块电阻均匀性优于96％.用此材料研制出了0.2μm栅长的X波段HEMT功率器件,40μm栅宽的器件跨导达到250mS/mm,特征频率fT为77GHz;0.8mm栅宽的器件电流密度达到1.07A/mm,8GHz时连续波输出功率为1.78W,相应功率密度为2.23W/mm,线性功率增益为13.3dB.     

DC and microwave performance of high-current AlGaN/GaNheterostructure field effect transistors grown on p-type SiC substrates

The fabrication and characterization of high performance AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs) grown on p-type SiC substrates are reported for the first time. The HFETs were fabricated with gate lengths of 0.25, 0.5, and 1 μm. These devices exhibited simultaneously high drain currents, high extrinsic transconductances, and excellent frequency response. The 0.25-μm gate-length devices produced a peak drain current of 1.43 A/mm, a transconductance of 229 mS/mm, a unity current-gain cutoff frequency of 53 GHz, and a maximum frequency of oscillation of 58 GHz. The unity current-gain cutoff frequency also exhibited little degradation as the drain-source bias was swept up to 20 V. These results represent a significant improvement over similar HFETs grown on sapphire substrates and are attributed to the higher thermal conductivity and reduced lattice mismatch associated with SiC substrates     

Structural properties of alloyed Ti/Al/Ti/Au and Ti/Al/Mo/Au ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN

Two alloyed ohmic contact structures for AlGaN/GaN–Ti/Al/Ti/Au and Ti/Al/Mo/Au were studied. Both structures were optimized for minimum ohmic contact resistance. Structures grown on sapphire and SiC substrates were used to investigate structural properties of ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN. Ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN on SiC showed higher contact resistance values compared to contacts to AlGaN/GaN on sapphire. Ohmic contact metals were etched on samples after annealing. The alloyed interface was studied with backside illumination under an optical microscope. Alloyed inclusions associated with threading dislocations were observed on the surface. For the AlGaN/GaN on SiC sample the inclusion density was an order of magnitude lower than for the sample on sapphire. Conductive atomic force microscopy with carbon nanotube tip was used to investigate topography and conductivity profile of the surface after ohmic contact metal removal by etching.     

Thermal Boundary Resistance Between GaN and Substrate in AlGaN/GaN Electronic Devices

The influence of a thermal boundary resistance (TBR) on temperature distribution in ungated AlGaN/GaN field-effect devices was investigated using 3-D micro-Raman thermography. The temperature distribution in operating AlGaN/GaN devices on SiC, sapphire, and Si substrates was used to determine values for the TBR by comparing experimental results to finite-difference thermal simulations. While the measured TBR of about 3.3 x 10^-8 W^-1 ldr m² ldr K for devices on SiC and Si substrates has a sizeable effect on the self-heating in devices, the TBR of up to 1.2 x 10^-8 W^-1 ldr m² ldr K plays an insignificant role in devices on sapphire substrates due to the low thermal conductivity of the substrate. The determined effective TBR was found to increase with temperature at the GaN/SiC interface from 3.3 x 10^-8 W^-1 ldr m² ldr K at 150degC to 6.5 x 3.3 x 10^-8 W^-1 ldr m² ldr K at 275degC, respectively. The contribution of a low-thermal-conductivity GaN layer at the GaN/substrate interface toward the effective TBR in devices and its temperature dependence are also discussed.     

4W/mm蓝宝石衬底AlGaN/GaN HEMT

报道了利用南京电子器件研究所生长的蓝宝石衬底AlGaN/GaN异质结材料制作的HEMT,器件功率输出密度达4W/mm。通过材料结构及生长条件的优化,利用MOCVD技术获得了二维电子气(2DEG)面密度为0.97×1013cm-2、迁移率为1000cm2/Vs的AlGaN/GaN异质结构材料,用此材料完成了栅长1μm、栅宽200μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的研制。小信号测试表明器件的fT为17GHz、最高振荡频率fmax为40GHz;负载牵引测试得到2GHz下器件的饱和输出功率密度为4.04W/mm。     

Gallium nitride based high power heterojunction field effecttransistors: process development and present status at UCSB

The development of GaN based devices for microwave power electronics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), is reviewed. From 1995 to 2000, the power performance of AlGaN/GaN-on-sapphire heterojunction field effect transistors improved from 1.1 W/mm to 6.6 W/mm, respectively. Compensating the disadvantages of the low thermal conductivity of the sapphire substrate through heat management via flip chip bonding onto AlN substrates, large periphery devices with an output power of 7.6 W were demonstrated. UCSB also fabricated the first GaN based amplifier integrated circuits. Critical issues involved in the growth of high quality AlGaN/GaN heterostructures by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and the device fabrication are discussed     

AlGaN/GaN HEMT材料外延技术研究

采用低压MOCVD技术在蓝宝石和SiC衬底上生长了本征GaN和AlGaN/GaN HEMT结构材料。生长过程中采用了EpiTUNEⅡ在位监测技术,对材料生长工艺进行了模型分析以及优化控制。在获得具有良好表面形貌、晶体质量以及光荧光谱的GaN本征材料基础上,生长了AlGaN/GaN HEMT结构材料,获得了良好的2DEG性能。     

Thermal modeling and measurement of AlGaN-GaN HFETs built on sapphire and SiC substrates

We present thermal modeling and measurement results of AlGaN-GaN heterojunction field effect transistors fabricated on sapphire and SiC substrates, respectively. The device structures are identical except for the substrate material used to grow the AlGaN-GaN heterostructure. One objective is to study the effect of substrate material on the thermal and electrical performance of the resulting devices. To compute the temperature profiles, in-house PAMICE code developed for a three-dimensional structure was used. To measure the temperatures on the chip surface, nematic liquid crystal thermography was used. This technique is nondestructive and can be performed in realtime during device operation. It has submicrometer spatial resolution and /spl plusmn/1/spl deg/C temperature accuracy. The measured temperatures agree well with the calculated ones. The relationship between the measured temperature and power is almost linear for both types of devices. The junction-to-case thermal resistance of the device fabricated on sapphire substrate is 4.4 times that of the device built on SiC substrate.     

An Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN undoped channelheterostructure field effect transistor with Fmax of 107 GHz

An Al_0.3Ga_0.7N/GaN heterostructure field effect transistor (HFET) grown on semi-insulating SiC with an 0.2-μm gate length is reported. A source-drain ohmic contact resistance of 0.15-Ω-mm was achieved through the use of high Al content and high n-type doping (1E19 cm^-3) in the AlGaN donor layer and optimized metallization procedures. We obtained a maximum transconductance of 260 mS/mm, a saturated current density of 1.2 A/mm, and a maximum oscillation frequency in excess of 107 GHz in the devices. The results are one of the best achieved up to now, and they will open up the potential for the applications of AlGaN/GaN HFET's in high-power microwave radar, remote sensing, and communications     

High Al-content AlGaN/GaN MODFETs for ultrahigh performance

The use of an AlGaN layer with high Al mole-fraction is proposed to increase the equivalent figures of merit of the AlGaN/GaN MODFET structure. It is shown that the room temperature mobility has little degradation with increasing Al mole-fraction up to 50%. 0.7-μm gate-length Al_0.5Ga_0.5N/GaN MODFETs by optical lithography exhibit a current density of 1 A/mm and three-terminal breakdown voltages up to 200 V. These devices on sapphire substrates without thermal management also show CW power densities of 2.84 and 2.57 W/mm at 8 and 10 GHz, respectively, representing a marked performance improvement for GaN-based FETs     

2.1 A/mm current density AlGaN/GaN HEMT

The electrical performance of high current density AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is reported. 2 /spl times/ 75 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 0.7 /spl mu/m devices grown on sapphire substrates showed current densities up to 2.1 A/mm under 200 ns pulse condition. RF power measurements at 8 GHz and V/sub DS/=15 V exhibited a saturated output power of 3.66 W/mm with a 47.8% peak PAE.     

Investigation of Self-Heating Effects in Submicrometer GaN/AlGaN HEMTs Using an Electrothermal Monte Carlo Method

An electrothermal Monte Carlo (MC) method is applied in this paper to investigate electron transport in submicrometer wurtzite GaN/AlGaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on various substrate materials including SiC, Si, GaN, and sapphire. The simulation method is an iterative technique that alternately runs an MC electronic simulation and solves the heat diffusion equation using an analytical thermal resistance matrix method. Results demonstrate how the extent of the thermal droop in the I_d-V_ds characteristics and the device peak temperature depend upon both the biasing conditions and the substrate material type. Polarization effects are considered in the simulations, as they greatly influence electron transport in GaN/AlGaN HEMTs by creating a highly concentrated two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the GaN/AlGaN interface. It is shown that a higher 2DEG density provides the devices with a better current handling capability but also increases the importance of the thermal effects     

AlN阻挡层对AlGaN/GaNHEMT器件的影响

利用低压MOCVD技术在蓝宝石衬底上生长了AlGaN/GaN异质结和AlGaN/AlN/GaN异质结二维电子气材料,采用相同器件工艺制造出了AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件和AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMT器件.通过对两种不同器件的比较和讨论,研究了AlN阻挡层的增加对AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件性能的影响.