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Title: Study of surface leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

Abstract

Temperature-dependent surface current measurements were performed to analyze the mechanism of surface conductance of AlGaN/GaN channel high-electron-mobility transistors by utilizing process-optimized double gate structures. Different temperatures and electric field dependence have been found in surface current measurements. At low electric field, the mechanism of surface conductance is considered to be two-dimensional variable range hopping. At elevated electric field, the Frenkel–Poole trap assisted emission governs the main surface electrons transportation. The extracted energy barrier height of electrons emitting from trapped state near Fermi energy level into a threading dislocations-related continuum state is 0.38 eV. SiN passivation reduces the surface leakage current by two order of magnitude and nearly 4 orders of magnitude at low and high electric fields, respectively. SiN also suppresses the Frenkel–Poole conductance at high temperature by improving the surface states of AlGaN/GaN. A surface treatment process has been introduced to further suppress the surface leakage current at high temperature and high field, which results in a decrease in surface current of almost 3 orders of magnitude at 476 K.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [1]
  1. Key Laboratory of Wide Band Gap Semiconductor Materials and Devices, School of Microelectronics, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071 (China)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22262621
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 104; Journal Issue: 15; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; ELECTRIC FIELDS; ELECTRON MOBILITY; ENERGY LEVELS; GALLIUM NITRIDES; LEAKAGE CURRENT; SILICON NITRIDES; SURFACE TREATMENTS; SURFACES; TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE

Citation Formats

Chen, YongHe, Zhang, Kai, Cao, MengYi, Zhao, ShengLei, Zhang, JinCheng, Hao, Yue, Ma, XiaoHua, and School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071. Study of surface leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4871736.
Chen, YongHe, Zhang, Kai, Cao, MengYi, Zhao, ShengLei, Zhang, JinCheng, Hao, Yue, Ma, XiaoHua, & School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071. Study of surface leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4871736
Chen, YongHe, Zhang, Kai, Cao, MengYi, Zhao, ShengLei, Zhang, JinCheng, Hao, Yue, Ma, XiaoHua, and School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071. 2014. "Study of surface leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4871736.
@article{osti_22262621,
title = {Study of surface leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors},
author = {Chen, YongHe and Zhang, Kai and Cao, MengYi and Zhao, ShengLei and Zhang, JinCheng and Hao, Yue and Ma, XiaoHua and School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071},
abstractNote = {Temperature-dependent surface current measurements were performed to analyze the mechanism of surface conductance of AlGaN/GaN channel high-electron-mobility transistors by utilizing process-optimized double gate structures. Different temperatures and electric field dependence have been found in surface current measurements. At low electric field, the mechanism of surface conductance is considered to be two-dimensional variable range hopping. At elevated electric field, the Frenkel–Poole trap assisted emission governs the main surface electrons transportation. The extracted energy barrier height of electrons emitting from trapped state near Fermi energy level into a threading dislocations-related continuum state is 0.38 eV. SiN passivation reduces the surface leakage current by two order of magnitude and nearly 4 orders of magnitude at low and high electric fields, respectively. SiN also suppresses the Frenkel–Poole conductance at high temperature by improving the surface states of AlGaN/GaN. A surface treatment process has been introduced to further suppress the surface leakage current at high temperature and high field, which results in a decrease in surface current of almost 3 orders of magnitude at 476 K.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4871736},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22262621}, journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
issn = {0003-6951},
number = 15,
volume = 104,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 14 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Mon Apr 14 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}