High-power polarization-engineered GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without surface passivation

In this paper, a high-power GaN/AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) has been demonstrated. A thick cap layer has been used to screen surface states and reduce dispersion. A deep gate recess was used to achieve the desired transconductance. A thin SiO/sub 2/ layer was deposited on the drain side of the gate recess in order to reduce gate leakage current and improve breakdown voltage. No surface passivation layer was used. A breakdown voltage of 90 V was achieved. A record output power density of 12 W/mm with an associated power-added efficiency (PAE) of 40.5% was measured at 10 GHz. These results demonstrate the potential of the technique as a controllable and repeatable solution to decrease dispersion and produce power from GaN-based HEMTs without surface passivation.     

High-power microwave GaN/AlGaN HEMTs on semi-insulating siliconcarbide substrates

Record performance of high-power GaN/Al_0.14-Ga_0.86 N high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) fabricated on semi-insulating (SI) 4H-SiC substrates is reported. Devices of 0.125-0.25 mm gate periphery show high CW power densities between 5.3 and 6.9 W/mm, with a typical power-added efficiency (PAE) of 35.4% and an associated gain of 9.2 dB at 10 GHz. High-electron mobility transistors with 1.5-mm gate widths (12×125 μm), measured on-wafer, exhibit a total output power of 3.9 W CW (2.6 W/mm) at 10 GHz with a PAE of 29% and an associated gain of 10 dB at the -2 dB compression point. A 3-mm HEMT, packaged with a hybrid matching circuit, demonstrated 9.1 W CW at 7.4 GHz with a PAE of 29.6% and a gain of 7.1 dB. These data represent the highest power density, total power, and associated gain demonstrated for a III-nitride HEMT under RF drive     

Undoped AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for microwave power amplification

Undoped AlGaN/GaN structures are used to fabricate high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Using the strong spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization inherent in this crystal structure a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is induced. Three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear thermal simulations are made to determine the temperature rise from heat dissipation in various geometries. Epitaxial growth by MBE and OMVPE are described, reaching electron mobilities of 1500 and 1700 cm ²/Ns, respectively, For electron sheet density near 1×10¹³/cm², Device fabrication is described, including surface passivation used to sharply reduce the problematic current slump (dc to rf dispersion) in these HEMTs. The frequency response, reaching an intrinsic f_t of 106 GHz for 0.15 μm gates, and drain-source breakdown voltage dependence on gate length are presented. Small periphery devices on sapphire substrates have normalized microwave output power of ~4 W/mm, while large periphery devices have ~2 W/mm, both thermally limited. Performance, without and with Si₃N₄ passivation are presented. On SiC substrates, large periphery devices have electrical limits of 4 W/mm, due in part to the limited development of the substrates     

The role of surface barrier oxidation on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs reliability

Reliability of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs processed with different surface oxidation levels was studied using electrical and optical methods. It was found that HEMTs with more surface oxide content are more susceptible to degradation in terms of gate leakage and trapping characteristics, although this oxide layer initially passivates surface traps. In the degraded devices, trap level with activation energy of 0.45–0.47 eV was observed and attributed to surface related traps. This indicates that oxygen may play a crucial role for AlGaN/GaN HEMT reliability.     

Impact of UV/ozone surface treatment on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Surface treatment plays an important role in the process of making high performance AIGaN/GaN HEMTs. A clean surface is critical for enhancing device performance and long-term reliability. By experiment-ing with different surface treatment methods, we find that using UV/ozone treatment significantly influences the electrical properties of Ohmic contacts and Schottky contacts. According to these experimental phenomena and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy surface analysis results, the effect of the UV/ozone treatment and the reason that it influences the Ohmic/Schottky contact characteristics of A1GaN/GaN HEMTs is investigated.     

UV/Ozone 表面处理对AlGaN/GaN HEMTs 性能的影响

工艺过程中对晶圆表面处理对制作出高性能的AlGaN/GaN HEMT起到至关重要的作用,洁净的表面能够有效提高器件性能以及器件可靠性。本文发现通过UV/Ozone表面处理,AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的欧姆接触以及肖特基接触的电学特性均发生明显变化,根据实验中现象以及相关实验数据,并且采用X射线光电子能谱对实验样品进行表面分析测试,着重阐述了UV/Ozone处理对晶圆表面的作用,以及其影响AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件欧姆接触特性以及肖特基接触特性的原因。     

Trapping effects and microwave power performance in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The dc small-signal, and microwave power output characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs are presented. A maximum drain current greater than 1 A/mm and a gate-drain breakdown voltage over 80 V have been attained. For a 0.4 μm gate length, an f_T of 30 GHz and an f_max of 70 GHz have been demonstrated. Trapping effects, attributed to surface and buffer layers, and their relationship to microwave power performance are discussed. It is demonstrated that gate lag is related to surface trapping and drain current collapse is associated with the properties of the GaN buffer layer. Through a reduction of these trapping effects, a CW power density of 3.3 W/mm and a pulsed power density of 6.7 W/mm have been achieved at 3.8 GHz     

采用AlN/SiNx钝化的高性能AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

两种不同的钝化层结构被应用到势垒层厚度为12 nm的AlGa/GaN 高电子迁移率场效应晶体管中。首先采用等离子增强原子层沉积(PEALD)技术生长5 nm的AlN薄膜,然后再覆盖50 nm的等离子增强化学气相淀积(PECVD)生长的SiNx。相比于传统的SiNx钝化,AlN钝化层的插入更有效地抑制了电流崩塌效应,同时获得了小的亚阈值斜率(SS)。AlN钝化层的插入增大了器件的射频跨导从而获得了较高的截止频率。另外,通过变温直流特性测试发现,AlN/SiNx钝化的器件在高温时饱和电流和最大跨导的衰退相对于仅采用SiNx钝化的器件都要小,表明AlN钝化层的插入改善了器件的高温稳定性。     

High-performance E-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN high electron-mobility transistors have been fabricated with a gate length of 160 nm. The use of gate recess combined with a fluorine-based surface treatment under the gate produced devices with a threshold voltage of +0.1 V. The combination of very high transconductance (> 400 mS/mm) and low gate leakage allows unprecedented output current levels in excess of 1.2 A/mm. The small signal performance of these enhancement-mode devices shows a record current cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) of 85 GHz and a power gain cutoff frequency (f/sub max/) of 150 GHz.     

AlGaN/GaN共栅共源HEMTs器件

研究了蓝宝石衬底AlGaN／GaN共栅共源器件的特性。该器件包括栅长0．8μm共源器件与栅长1μm的共栅器件。研究表明,共栅共源器件的第二栅压对的器件饱和电流与跨导有明显的调制作用,容易实现功率增益控制。与共源器件相比,共栅共源器件在微波特性上fT大约9GHz,比共源器件稍小,但是具有较低的反馈,显著增加的功率资用增益及较高的端口阻抗,与共源器件相比,稳定性更好,可以避免振荡的产生,结合GaN的高功率特性GaN共栅共源器件非常适合微波频段宽频大功率领域的应用。     

Effect of surface passivation of AlGaN/GaN heterostructurefield-effect transistor

The effect of SiN passivation of the surface of AlGaN/GaN transistors is reported. Current deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements were performed on the device before and after the passivation by a SiN film. The DLTS spectra from these measurements showed the existence of the same electron trap on the surface of the device. The DLTS spectrum obtained from the measurement of the passivated device showed a significantly lower peak for this trap. The discrepancy in the DLTS peak amplitude is explained by the effect of the passivation on the surface traps and underlines the surface nature of the major defect noticed in the device     

The effect of external stress on the electrical characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The electrical characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors under the application of uniform in-plane tensile and compressive stress were measured. The results demonstrate the change of the drain–source I_ds–V_ds characteristics as a function of the external stress. The output current at V_ds = 10 V increases linearly with the stress with the slope about 3 × 10⁻⁶ A MPa⁻¹. It is associated with the piezoelectric effect and kink effect. Moreover, the magnitude of the kink effect is found to be affected by the stress. It displays a linear changing trend with the slope of 3.3 × 10⁻⁴ mS MPa⁻¹ within the stress level. The energy band structure is suggested to be responsible for the dependence of the kink effect on the stress.     

Post-process thermal treatment for microwave power improvement of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The effects of post-process rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment after device fabrication on direct current, microwave and power performances of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with a gate-length of 0.2 μm were fully investigated. By 3 min post-process RTA treatment at 350 °C under N₂ atmosphere, the direct current (DC), radio frequency (RF) small signal and power performances of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have been much improved. The output power, power gain and power added efficiency (PAE) of GaN HEMT device with gate wide of 1 mm increase from 37.09 dBm, 6.09 dB and 42.79% to 38.22 dBm, 7.22 dB and 67.3%. The post-process RTA after device fabrication has two merits. On the one hand, it improves passivation effect of SiN_x dielectric layer on AlGaN/GaN HEMT surface, suppressing RF current dispersion. On the other hand, it helps recover dry-etch damage at the Schottky metal/AlGaN interface, leading to reduction of reverse Schottky leakage current.     

The effect of gate leakage on the noise figure of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The effect of gate leakage on the noise figure of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMTs) is explored. It is shown that these devices have a sizable amount of gate leakage that cannot be ignored when measuring their noise performance. Measurements across a single sample have more than 1 dB of variation in minimum noise figure. We will show this variation is because of gate leakage. A modified van der Ziel model is used to predict this large variation and allows easy noise figure prediction of HEMT and MESFET devices.     

Enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrate

High-performance enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (E-HEMTs) were demonstrated with samples grown on a low-cost silicon substrate for the first time. The fabrication process is based on a fluoride-based plasma treatment of the gate region and postgate annealing at 450 /spl deg/C. The fabricated E-HEMTs have nearly the same peak transconductance (G/sub m/) and cutoff frequencies as the conventional depletion-mode HEMTs fabricated on the same wafer, suggesting little mobility degradation caused by the plasma treatment.     

Fabrication and characterization of high performance AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on sapphire with silicon nitride passivation

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs)with high performance were fabricated and characterized.A variety of techniques were used to improve device performance,such as AlN interlayer,silicon nitride passivation,high aspect ratio T-shaped gate,low resistance ohmic contact and short drain-source distance. DC and RF performances of as-fabricated HEMTs were characterized by utilizing a semiconductor characterization system and a vector network analyzer,respectively.As-fabricated devices exhibited a maximum drain current density of 1.41 A/mm and a maximum peak extrinsic transconductance of 317 mS/mm.The obtained current density is larger than those reported in the literature to date,implemented with a domestic wafer and processes.Furthermore, a unity current gain cut-off frequency of 74.3 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 112.4 GHz were obtained on a device with an 80 nm gate length.     

蓝宝石衬底上使用氮化硅钝化的AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管的研制与特性分析

本文研制了高性能的AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管并进行了特性分析。诸如氮化铝插入层、氮化硅钝化、高宽窄比的T型栅、减小欧姆接触电阻和缩短漏源距离等技术被用于提高器件性能。使用半导体参数分析仪和矢量网络分析仪分别对前制器件的直流和交流特性进行了表征。所得80nm栅长的器件其最大漏极电流密度为1.41A/mm,该结果为到目前为止国内文献报道的最大值。同时测得峰值跨导为317mS/mm,特征频率为74.3GHz,最高振荡频率为112.4GHz。     

Temperature-dependent nonlinearities in GaN/AlGaN HEMTs

Temperature-dependent nonlinearities of GaN/AlGaN HEMTs are reported. The large-signal device model of the transistor is obtained by using a physics-based analysis. The model parameters are obtained as functions of bias voltages and temperature. The analysis of the device has been carried out using a time-domain technique. f_max for a 0.23 μm×100 μm Al_0.13Ga_0.87N/GaN FET is calculated as 69 GHz at 300 K, while at 500 K, f_max decreases to 30 GHz, which are in agreement with the experimental data within 7% error. f_max as obtained from calculated unilateral gain, decreases monotonically with increasing temperature. For shorter gate lengths irrespective of the operating temperature f_max is less sensitive to bias voltage scaling. For longer gate length devices, f_max becomes less sensitive to the bias voltage scaling at elevated temperatures. 1-dB compression point (P_1-dB ) at 4 GHz for a 1 μm×500 μm Al_0.15Ga_0.85N/GaN FET is 13 dBm at 300 K. At 500 K, P_1-dB decreases to 2.5 dBm for the same operating frequency. Similar results for output referred third intercept point (OIP3) are reported for different gate length devices     

AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件工艺的研究进展

首先论述了Al GaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)在微波大功率领域的应用优势和潜力;其次,介绍并分析了影响Al GaN/GaN HEMT性能的主要参数,分析表明要提高Al-GaN/GaN HEMT的频率和功率性能,需改善寄生电阻、电容、栅长和击穿电压等参数。然后,着重从材料结构和器件工艺的角度阐述了近年来Al GaN/GaN HEMT的研究进展,详细归纳了目前主要的材料生长和器件制作工艺,可以看出基本的工艺思路是尽量提高材料二维电子气的浓度和材料对二维电子气的限制能力的同时减小器件的寄生电容和电阻,增强栅极对沟道的控制能力。另外,根据具体情况调节栅长及沟道电场。最后,简要探讨了Al GaN/GaN HEMT还存在的问题以及面临的挑战。     

AlGaN/GaN HEMT欧姆接触的研究进展

从欧姆接触形成的机理出发,介绍了在AlGaN/GaN HEMT中实现源和漏区欧姆接触的各种方法,如表面处理技术、金属化系统和重掺杂技术等.回顾了近年来这些方法的研究进展.