Neutron irradiation effects on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were exposed to 1 MeV neutron irradiation at a neutron fluence of 1 × 10¹⁵ cm^-2. The dc characteristics of the devices, such as the drain saturation current and the maximum transconductance, decreased after neutron irradiation. The gate leakage currents increased obviously after neutron irradiation. However, the rf characteristics, such as the cut-off frequency and the maximum frequency, were hardly affected by neutron irradiation. The AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions have been employed for the better understanding of the degradation mechanism. It is shown in the Hall measurements and capacitance-voltage tests that the mobility and concentration of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) decreased after neutron irradiation. There was no evidence of the full-width at half-maximum of X-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curve changing after irradiation, so the dislocation was not influenced by neutron irradiation. It is concluded that the point defects induced in AlGaN and GaN by neutron irradiation are the dominant mechanisms responsible for performance degradations of AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices.     

斜切蓝宝石衬底MOCVD生长GaN薄膜的透射电镜研究

利用MOCVD技术在斜切角度为0.3°的c面蓝宝石衬底上生长了非故意掺杂 GaN 薄膜, 并采用透射电子显微镜对材料的质量和材料内部缺陷进行了分析. 研究发现斜切蓝宝石衬底上外延的GaN材料中,位错在距离衬底0.8 μm附近大量湮灭, 同时位错扎堆出现.基于上述现象, 提出了斜切衬底上GaN材料中位错的湮灭机制, 解释了斜切衬底能够提高GaN晶体质量的原因.     

Degradation mechanism of enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using fluorine ion implantation under the on-state gate overdrive stress

The degradation mechanism of enhancement-mode Al Ga N/Ga N high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs)fabricated by fluorine plasma ion implantation technology is one major concern of HEMT’s reliability.It is observed that the threshold voltage shows a significant negative shift during the typical long-term on-state gate overdrive stress.The degradation does not originate from the presence of as-grown traps in the Al Ga N barrier layer or the generated traps during fluorine ion implantation process.By comparing the relationships between the shift of threshold voltage and the cumulative injected electrons under different stress conditions,a good agreement is observed.It provides direct experimental evidence to support the impact ionization physical model,in which the degradation of E-mode HEMTs under gate overdrive stress can be explained by the ionization of fluorine ions in the Al Ga N barrier layer by electrons injected from 2DEG channel.Furthermore,our results show that there are few new traps generated in the Al Ga N barrier layer during the gate overdrive stress,and the ionized fluorine ions cannot recapture the electrons.     

The etching of a-plane GaN epilayers grown by metal--organic chemical vapour deposition

Morphology of nonpolar (1120) a-plane GaN epilayers on r-plane (1102) sapphire substrate grown by low-pressure metal-organic vapour deposition was investigated after KOH solution etching. Many micron-and nano-meter columns on the a-plane GaN surface were observed by scanning electron microscopy. An etching mechanism model is proposed to interpret the origin of the peculiar etching morphology. The basal stacking fault in the a-plane GaN plays a very important role in the etching process.     

Fabrication and Characteristics of AIInN/A1N/GaN MOS-HEMTs with Ultra-Thin Atomic Layer Deposited Al2O3 Gate Dielectric

Al0.85In0.15N//AlN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors （MOS-HEMTs） employing a 3-nm ultra-thin atomic-layer deposited （ALD） Al2O3 gate dielectric layer are reported. Devices with 0.6μm gate lengths exhibit an improved maximum drain current density of 1227mA/mm at a gate bias of 3 V, a peak transeonductance of 328mS/mm, a cutoff frequency fr of 16 GHz, a maximum frequency of oscillation fmax of 45 GHz, as well as significant gate leakage suppression in both reverse and forward directions, compared with the conventionM Al0.85In0.15N/AlN/GaN HEMT. Negligible C - V hysteresis, together with a smaller pinch-off voltage shift, is observed, demonstrating few bulk traps in the dielectric and high quality of the Al2O3/AIInN interface, it is most notable that not only the transconductance profile of the MOS-HEMT is almost the same as that of the conventional HEMT with a negative shift, but also the peak transconduetance of the MOS-HEMT is increased slightly. It is an exeitin~ inwrovement in the transconductance performance.     

Superior material qualities and transport properties of InGaN channel heterostructure grown by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition is introduced into the growth of In Ga N channel heterostructure for improving material qualities and transport properties. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging shows the phase separation free In Ga N channel with smooth and abrupt interface. A very high two-dimensional electron gas density of approximately 1.85 × 1013cm-2is obtained due to the superior carrier confinement. In addition, the Hall mobility reaches 967 cm2/V·s, owing to the suppression of interface roughness scattering. Furthermore, temperature-dependent Hall measurement results show that In Ga N channel heterostructure possesses a steady two-dimensional electron gas density over the tested temperature range, and has superior transport properties at elevated temperatures compared with the traditional Ga N channel heterostructure. The gratifying results imply that In Ga N channel heterostructure grown by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition is a promising candidate for microwave power devices.     

Phonon Limited Electron Mobility in Germanium FinFETs:Fin Direction Dependence

We investigate the phonon limited electron mobility in germanium(Ge) fin field-effect transistors(FinFETs)with fin rotating within(001),(110),and(111)-oriented wafers. The coupled Schrodinger-Poisson equations are solved self-consistently to calculate the electronic structures for the two-dimensional electron gas, and Fermi's golden rule is used to calculate the phonon scattering rate. It is concluded that the intra-valley acoustic phonon scattering is the dominant mechanism limiting the electron mobility in Ge FinFETs. The phonon limited electron motilities are influenced by wafer orientation, channel direction, in thickness Wfin, and inversion charge density Ninv. With the fixed Wfin, fin directions of(110),(112) and(110) within(001),(110), and(111)-oriented wafers provide the maximum values of electron mobility. The optimized for mobility is also dependent on wafer orientation and channel direction. As Ninv, increases, phonon limited mobility degrades, which is attributed to electron repopulation from a higher mobility valley to a lower mobility valley as Ninv increases.     

高温AlN插入层对AlGaN/GaN异质结材料和HEMTs器件电学特性的影响

研究了在GaN缓冲层中插入40 nm厚高温AlN层的GaN外延层和AlGaN/GaN异质结材料, AlN插入层可以增加GaN层的面内压应力并提高AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管（HEMTs）的电学特性. 在精确测量布拉格衍射角的基础上定量计算了压应力的大小. 增加的压应力一方面通过增强GaN层的压电极化电场, 提高了AlGaN/GaN异质结二维电子气（2DEG）面密度, 另一方面使AlGaN势垒层对2DEG面密度产生的两方面影响相互抵消. 同时, 这种AlN插入层的采用降低了GaN与AlGaN层之间的 关键词： 高温AlN插入层 AlGaN/GaN异质结 二维电子气 应力     

Effect of Si doping in wells of AlGaN/GaN superlattice on the characteristics of epitaxial layer

An AlGaN/GaN superlattice grown on the top of a GaN buffer induces the broadening of the full width at half maximum of (102) and (002) X-ray diffraction rocking curves. With an increase in the Si-doped concentration in the GaN wells, the full width at half maximum of the (102) rocking curves decreases, while that of the (002) rocking curves increases. A significant increase of the full width at the half maximum of the (002) rocking curves when the doping concentration reaches 2.5 × 1019 cm-3 indicates the substantial increase of the inclined threading dislocation. High level doping in the AlGaN/GaN superlattice can greatly reduce the biaxial stress and optimize the surface roughness of the structures grown on the top of it.     

Enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN high electronic mobility transistors with thin barrier

An enhancement-mode (E-mode) AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMTs) was fabricated with 15-nm AlGaN barrier layer. E-mode operation was achieved by using fluorine plasma treatment and post-gate rapid thermal annealing. The thin barrier depletion-HEMTs with a threshold voltage typically around --1.7 V, which is higher than that of the 22-nm barrier depletion-mode HEMTs (--3.5 V). Therefore, the thin barrier is emerging as an excellent candidate to realize the enhancement-mode operation. With 0.6-μ m gate length, the devices treated by fluorine plasma for 150-W RF power at 150 s exhibited a threshold voltage of 1.3 V. The maximum drain current and maximum transconductance are 300 mA/mm, and 177 mS/mm, respectively. Compared with the 22-nm barrier E-mode devices, V_T of the thin barrier HEMTs is much more stable under the gate step-stress.