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Title: Electron Transport Properties of Al x Ga 1 x N / Ga N Transistors Based on First-Principles Calculations and Boltzmann-Equation Monte Carlo Simulations

Journal Article · · Physical Review Applied
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [3]
  1. Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States); Boston Univ., MA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX (United States)
  3. Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
  4. Boston Univ., MA (United States)

High-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) based on AlxGa1–xN/GaN heterostructures have great potential for applications in power electronics and radio frequency applications. Operating under large bias and electric fields, hot electrons are present in the channel where they can activate preexisting benign defects that cause scattering or carrier trapping, resulting in device degradation, such as threshold-voltage shifts and transconductance degradation. We report a comprehensive investigation of the electron transport properties of wurtzite-phase GaN and AlN and of an Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN HEMT by solving the Boltzmann transport equation with a synchronous ensemble Monte Carlo technique and employing first-principles electronic properties, including the full energy bands, phonon dispersions, and electron-phonon scattering rates. We find that, for electron collisions with the highest-energy optical phonon mode, nonpolar scattering by optical phonons contributes comparable to polar scattering. Polar scattering with acoustic phonons, that is, piezoelectric scattering, is found to be as important as the polar scattering with optical phonons for low-energy electrons at room temperature. Here, we compare the calculated high-field transport characteristics of bulk GaN with previously reported results. We also calculate the nonpolar acoustic deformation potential, nonpolar optical deformation potential, and high-field transport characteristics of bulk AlN. We find that inclusion of piezoelectric scattering results in a low-field electron mobility of approximately 450cm2/(V s), which is very close to the experimental value. Simulation results are presented for an Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN HEMT, including electric field, average carrier kinetic energy, and drift velocity in the channel. Finally, we present the carrier energy distribution function in the conducting channel, which is key to accurately determine hot-carrier-caused device degradation and identify possible routes to an improved device design.

Research Organization:
Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-09ER46554; W911NF-12-2-0023; EECS-1508898
OSTI ID:
1597930
Journal Information:
Physical Review Applied, Vol. 11, Issue 4; ISSN 2331-7019
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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