Yoshitaka Kamo

A C-band AlGaN/GaN HEMT with Cat-CVD SiN passivation developed for an over 100 W operation

We applied a Cat-CVD (catalytic chemical vapor deposition) passivation film to AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, to resolve the trade-off between their drain current transient time and gate-drain break down voltage. We did not employ any field plate because it degrades high frequency operation over C-band. The SiN passivation film, deposited after a NH 3 treatment, resulted in less transient time and less gate leakage current than conventional PE-CVD passivation. A T-shaped gate HEMT fabricated by this technique, with Lg = 0.4 μm and Wg = 50.4 mm, delivered an output power over 140 W (2.79 W/mm), which was a record power at C-band.

A high reliability GaN HEMT with SiN passivation by Cat-CVD

This is the first report of catalytic vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) passivated AlGaN/GaN HEMT. We have found out that the Cat-CVD passivation film with NH3 treatment greatly enhances the reliability of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT. It is rationalized, through the low frequency capacitance-voltage measurement, that the NH3 treatment in the Cat-CVD reactor before the SiN film deposition minimizes the damage at the SiN/AlGaN interface, leading to reducing the surface trap density. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT passivated by the Cat-CVD SiN film suppresses the degradation of an output power to less than 0.4 dB under the RF operation of Vd = 30 V, f = 5 GHz after 200 h.