AlGaN/GaN C-HEMT structures for dynamic stress detection

In our work, we investigated the possibility of dynamic stress detection based on the piezoelectric polarization using AlGaN/GaN circular high electron mobility transistors (C-HEMTs). In our knowledge, stress sensors in that account are introduced for the first time. The sensor structures exhibit good linearity in the piezoelectric response under dynamic stress conditions. The measurements reveal excellent stress detection sensitivity that is independent on the measured frequency range. The sensitivity of the devices can be easily increased by increase of the area of the Schottky gate ring electrode. The further increase of the sensitivity can be tuned by an optimal selection of the DC drain and gate bias.     

双轴应变下GaN有效质量的计算及其对迁移率的影响

通过计算双轴应变下氮化镓的电子能带结构,给出了GaN有效质量与应变的变化关系。在弛豫时间近似的条件下,这种关系决定了双轴应变AlGaN/GaN中二维电子气(2DEG)的迁移率的改变。在其他物理参量不变的情况下,这种二维电子气迁移率将随着张应变的增加而增加,并随着压应变的增加而减小。计算结果表明,张应变对2DEG迁移率的影响要比压应变大。此外,GaN有效质量的变化在低温时对迁移率的作用更明显。而在低温低浓度的条件下,迁移率却对有效质量的依赖很小。     

Breakdown voltage analysis for the new RESURF AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

This paper demonstrates that the depletion process for AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility tran-sistors(HEMTs)is different than that for silicon power devices by analyzing active region depletion.Based on the special breakdown principle that occurs in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs,we propose a new reduced surface field AlGaN/GaN HEMT with a double low-density drain(LDD)and a positively charged region near the drain to optimize the surface electric field and increase the breakdown voltage.In this structure,two negative charge regions with different doses are introduced into the polarization AlGaN layer to form a double LDD and decrease the high electric field near the gate by depleting two-dimensional electron gas.A positively charged region is added to the electrode near the drain to decrease the high electric field peak at the drain edge.By applying ISE(integrated systems engineering)simulation software,we verify that the virtual gate effect occurs in the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.The breakdown voltage is improved from 257 V in the conventional structure to 550 V in the proposed structure.     

Analytical and numerical modelling of AlGaN/GaN/AlN heterostructure based cantilevers for mechanical sensing in harsh environments

Some industrial areas as oil, automotive and aerospace industries, require electromechanical systems working in harsh environments. An elegant solution is to use III-V materials alloys having semiconductor, piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. These materials, particularly nitrides such as GaN or AlN, enable design of advanced devices suitable for harsh environment. A cantilever structure based on AlGaN/GaN/AlN heterostructures coupled with a High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) can act as an electromechanical device suited for sensing applications. In this article, we present the mechanical modelling of such a structure. An analytical and a numerical model have been developed to obtain the electrical charge distribution in the structure in response to mechanical stress. A theoretical electromechanical sensitivity of 3.5 μC m⁻² was achieved for the cantilever free end displacement of several hundreds of nanometres. Both models show good agreement, presenting less than 5% deviation in almost the whole structure. The differences between the two models that are pronounced near the clamped area can be explained by particular boundary conditions of the numerical model. The topological characterization and numerical modelling allowed the estimation of the equivalent intrinsic residual stress in the structure and the stress distribution within each layer. Finally, the dynamic mechanical characterization of fabricated cantilevers using laser interferometry is presented and compared to numerical modal analysis with less than 10% deviation between theoretical and experimental resonant frequencies. The obtained results enable the use of the analytical model for further study of the electromechanical coupling with the HEMT structure.     

A simplification method for capacitance models in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors under large drain voltage using channel analysis

This article analyzes the bias dependence of gate‐drain capacitance (C_gd) and gate‐source capacitance (C_gs) in the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors under a high drain‐to‐source voltage (V_ds) from the perspective of channel shape variation, and further simplifies C_gd and C_gs to be gate‐to‐source voltage (V_gs) dependent only at high V_ds. This method can significantly reduce the number of parameters to be fitted in C_gd and C_gs and therefore lower the difficulty of model development. The Angelov capacitance models are chosen for verifying the effectiveness of simplification. Good agreement between simulated and measured small‐signal S‐parameters, large‐signal power sweep, and power contours comprehensively proves the accuracy of this simplification method.     

Impact of ZnO gate interfacial layer on piezoelectric response of AlGaN/GaN C-HEMT based ring gate capacitor

We report on a piezoelectric response investigation of AlGaN/GaN circular high electron mobility transistor (C-HEMT) based ring gate capacitor as a new stress sensor device to be potentially applied for dynamic high-pressure sensing. A ring gate capacitor of C-HEMT with an additional ZnO gate interfacial layer was used to measure the changes in the piezoelectric charge induced directly by the variation of piezoelectric polarization of both gate piezoelectric layers (AlGaN, ZnO) for harmonic loading at different excitation frequences. Our experimental results show that about 10 nm thick piezoelectric ZnO layer grown on ring gate/AlGaN interface of C-HEMT can yield almost a 60% increase in the piezoelectric detection sensitivity of the device due to its higher piezoelectric coefficient. A three-dimensional CoventorWare simulation is carried out to confirm the increase in the measured piezoelectric response of ZnO based ring gate capacitor of C-HEMT.     

海底pH的原位探测：镀Nafion膜的Ir/IrO2电极

洋中脊热液流体及大陆斜坡气体水合物区的冷泉中溶解有硫离子.Ir/IrO2电极对硫离子非常敏感.虽然它和Ag/AgCl参比电极配对在pH 0～14中具有优良性能,但在含有2×10-4mol/L Na2S的缓冲溶液(pH=12.6)中无法得到稳定电位.测试初期是高强度假信号,然后是上下波动的信号曲线.为克服硫离子的干扰,在Ir/IrO2电极表面镀上了Nafion膜.Nafion是杜邦公司生产的一种聚合物选择性半透膜.相对于为未镀Nafion膜的Ir/IrO2电极而言,镀膜电极不仅对不同pH值溶液响应良好,而且在含有2×10-4mol/L Na2S的缓冲溶液中信号稳定,表明了硫离子的干扰被有效屏蔽.固态镀膜Ir/IrO2和Ag/AgCl电极对适用于对海底热液和冷泉的pH测定与长期观测.