Electroluminescence of hot electrons in AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors under radio frequency operation
- Center for Device Thermography and Reliability, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL (United Kingdom)
- Centre for High Frequency Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3QR (United Kingdom)
- United Monolithic Semiconductors GmbH, Wilhelm-Runge-Strasse 11, 89081 Ulm (Germany)
Hot electrons in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors are studied during radio frequency (RF) and DC operation by means of electroluminescence (EL) microscopy and spectroscopy. The measured EL intensity is decreased under RF operation compared to DC at the same average current, indicating a lower hot electron density. This is explained by averaging the DC EL intensity over the measured load line used in RF measurements, giving reasonable agreement. In addition, the hot electron temperature is lower by up to 15% under RF compared to DC, again at least partially explainable by the weighted averaging along the specific load line. However, peak electron temperature under RF occurs at high V{sub DS} and low I{sub DS} where EL is insignificant suggesting that any wear-out differences between RF and DC stress of the devices will depend on the balance between hot-carrier and field driven degradation mechanisms.
- OSTI ID:
- 22402507
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 21; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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