Nanoscale conductive pattern of the homoepitaxial AlGaN/GaN transistor

The gallium nitride (GaN)-based buffer/barrier mode of growth and morphology, the transistor electrical response (25–310 °C) and the nanoscale pattern of a homoepitaxial AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) have been investigated at the micro and nanoscale. The low channel sheet resistance and the enhanced heat dissipation allow a highly conductive HEMT transistor ( I ds > 1 A mm −1 ) to be defined (0.5 A mm −1 at 300 °C). The vertical breakdown voltage has been determined to be ∼850 V with the vertical drain-bulk (or gate-bulk) current following the hopping mechanism, with an activation energy of 350 meV. The conductive atomic force microscopy nanoscale current pattern does not unequivocally follow the molecular beam epitaxy AlGaN/GaN morphology but it suggests that the FS-GaN substrate presents a series of preferential conductive spots (conductive patches). Both the estimated patches density and the apparent random distribution appear to correlate with the edge-pit dislocations observed via cathodoluminescence. The sub-surface edge-pit dislocations originating in the FS-GaN substrate result in barrier height inhomogeneity within the HEMT Schottky gate producing a subthreshold current

GaN Power Devices: Discerning Application-Specific Challenges and Limitations in HEMTs

GaN power devices are typically used in the 600 V market, for high efficiency, high power-density systems. For these devices, the lateral optimization of gate-to-drain, gate, and gate-to-source lengths, as well as gate field-plate length are critical for optimizing breakdown voltage and performance. This work presents a systematic study of lateral scaling optimization for high voltage devices to minimize figure of merit and maximize breakdown voltage. In addition, this optimization is extended for low voltage devices ( \u3c 100 V), presenting results to optimize both lateral features and vertical features. For low voltage design, simulation work suggests that breakdown is more reliant on punch-through as the primary breakdown mechanism rather than on vertical leakage current as is the case with high-voltage devices. A fabrication process flow has been developed for fabricating Schottky-gate, and MIS-HEMT structures at UCF in the CREOL cleanroom. The fabricated devices were designed to validate the simulation work for low voltage GaN devices. The UCF fabrication process is done with a four layer mask, and consists of mesa isolation, ohmic recess etch, an optional gate insulator layer, ohmic metallization, and gate metallization. Following this work, the fabrication process was transferred to the National Nano Device Laboratories (NDL) in Hsinchu, Taiwan, to take advantage of the more advanced facilities there. Following fabrication, a study has been performed on defect induced performance degradation, leading to the observation of a new phenomenon: trap induced negative differential conductance (NDC). Typically NDC is caused by self-heating, however by implementing a substrate bias test in conjunction with pulsed I-V testing, the NDC seen in our fabricated devices has been confirmed to be from buffer traps that are a result of poor channel carrier confinement during the dc operating condition

Advanced AlGaN/GaN HEMT technology, design, fabrication and characterization

Nowadays, the microelectronics technology is based on the mature and very well established silicon (Si) technology. However, Si exhibits some important limitations regarding its voltage blocking capability, operation temperature and switching frequency. In this sense, Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) devices have the potential to make this change possible. The unique combination of the high-breakdown field, the high-channel electron mobility of the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG), and high-temperature of operation has attracted enormous interest from social, academia and industry and in this context this PhD dissertation has been made. This thesis has focused on improving the device performance through the advanced design, fabrication and characterization of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, primarily grown on Si templates. The first milestone of this PhD dissertation has been the establishment of a know-how on GaN HEMT technology from several points of view: the device design, the device modeling, the process fabrication and the advanced characterization primarily using devices fabricated at Centre de Recherche sur l'Hétéro-Epitaxie (CRHEA-CNRS) (France) in the framework of a collaborative project. In this project, the main workhorse of this dissertation was the explorative analysis performed on the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by innovative electrical and physical characterization methods. A relevant objective of this thesis was also to merge the nanotechnology approach with the conventional characterization techniques at the device scale to understand the device performance. A number of physical characterization techniques have been imaginatively used during this PhD determine the main physical parameters of our devices such as the morphology, the composition, the threading dislocations density, the nanoscale conductive pattern and others. The conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) tool have been widely described and used to understand the conduction mechanisms through the AlGaN/GaN Ohmic contact by performing simultaneously topography and electrical conductivity measurements. As it occurs with the most of the electronic switches, the gate stack is maybe the critical part of the device in terms of performance and longtime reliability. For this reason, how the AlGaN/GaN HEMT gate contact affects the overall HEMT behaviour by means of advanced characterization and modeling has been intensively investigated. It is worth mentioning that the high-temperature characterization is also a cornerstone of this PhD. It has been reported the elevated temperature impact on the forward and the reverse leakage currents for analogous Schottky gate HEMTs grown on different substrates: Si, sapphire and free-standing GaN (FS-GaN). The HEMT' forward-current temperature coefficients (T^a) as well as the thermal activation energies have been determined in the range of 25-300 ºC. Besides, the impact of the elevated temperature on the Ohmic and gate contacts has also been investigated. The main results of the gold-free AlGaN/GaN HEMTs high-voltage devices fabricated with a 4 inch Si CMOS compatible technology at the clean room of the CNM in the framework of the industrial contract with ON semiconductor were presented. We have shown that the fabricated devices are in the state-of-the-art (gold-free Ohmic and Schottky contacts) taking into account their power device figure-of-merit ((VB^2)/Ron) of 4.05×10^8 W/cm^2. Basically, two different families of AlGaN/GaN-on-Si MIS-HEMTs devices were fabricated on commercial 4 inch wafers: (i) using a thin ALD HfO2 (deposited on the CNM clean room) and (ii) thin in-situ grown Si3N4, as a gate insulator (grown by the vendor). The scientific impact of this PhD in terms of science indicators is of 17 journal papers (8 as first author) and 10 contributions at international conferences

GaN-based power devices: Physics, reliability, and perspectives

Over the last decade, gallium nitride (GaN) has emerged as an excellent material for the fabrication of power devices. Among the semicon- ductors for which power devices are already available in the market, GaN has the widest energy gap, the largest critical field, and the highest saturation velocity, thus representing an excellent material for the fabrication of high-speed/high-voltage components. The presence of spon- taneous and piezoelectric polarization allows us to create a two-dimensional electron gas, with high mobility and large channel density, in the absence of any doping, thanks to the use of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. This contributes to minimize resistive losses; at the same time, for GaN transistors, switching losses are very low, thanks to the small parasitic capacitances and switching charges. Device scaling and monolithic integration enable a high-frequency operation, with consequent advantages in terms of miniaturization. For high power/high- voltage operation, vertical device architectures are being proposed and investigated, and three-dimensional structures—fin-shaped, trench- structured, nanowire-based—are demonstrating great potential. Contrary to Si, GaN is a relatively young material: trapping and degradation processes must be understood and described in detail, with the aim of optimizing device stability and reliability. This Tutorial describes the physics, technology, and reliability of GaN-based power devices: in the first part of the article, starting from a discussion of the main proper- ties of the material, the characteristics of lateral and vertical GaN transistors are discussed in detail to provide guidance in this complex and interesting field. The second part of the paper focuses on trapping and reliability aspects: the physical origin of traps in GaN and the main degradation mechanisms are discussed in detail. The wide set of referenced papers and the insight into the most relevant aspects gives the reader a comprehensive overview on the present and next-generation GaN electronics

Targeted Germanium Ion Irradiation of Aluminum Gallium Nitride/Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistors

Microscale beams of germanium ions were used to target different locations of aluminum galliumnitride/gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) to determine location dependent radiation effects. 1.7 MeV Ge ions were targeted at the gap between the gate and the drain to observe displacement damage effects while 47 MeV Ge ions were targeted at the gate to observe ionization damage effects. Electrical data was taken pre, during, and post irradiation. To separate transient from permanent degradation, the devices were characterized after a room temperature anneal for at least 30 days. Optical images were also analyzed pre and post irradiation. This is the first use of localized dynamic irradiation testing has been used to compare AlGaN/GaN HEMT performance to the results of stress testing via in situ measurements of the gate and drain currents. The 6 MV Tandem Accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories using the Micro-ONE system was used to induce displacement and ionization damage. Displacement damage was caused by 1.7 MeV Ge ions targeting the gate-drain gap of ten HEMTs in the off, on, and semi-on bias states where a fluence dependent delayed response between ion deposition and gate current degradation in the semi-on and on bias state was observed. The delayed response was also observed in the drain current degradation when biased in the semi-on state, while occurring immediately in the on state. Ionization damage was induced by 47 MeV Ge ions targeting the gate region in the semi-on bias state where gate current degradation occurred during the initial irradiation of the gate active region. Drain current degradation occurred in both the initial and subsequent irradiations. Pre and post irradiation output and transfer performance characteristics indicate drain current and transconductance degradation for both experiments in all bias states. No threshold voltage shift was observed during the displacement damage experiment with 1.7 MeV Ge ions. During the ionization experiment, the threshold voltage increased after the initial irradiation with 2 x 1010 cm-2 47 MeV Ge ions across the length of the gate. Subsequent irradiation over the same location and after a 60 day room temperature anneal did not change this threshold voltage shift and the decrease in the drain current and transconductance persisted, indicating permanent damage. The same performance characteristics changes have been associated with reliability stress testing causing similar effective damage in both the gate-drain gap and the gate regions. The observed degradation in device characteristics are consistent with the inverse piezoelectric effect in the displacement damage experiment and charge trapping in the gate region in the ionization experiment. These results show that radiation induced degradation can be captured by using a targeted ion beam in order to determine location dependent fluence limits, thereby informing both reliability and radiation hardness models