Zhao Sheng-Lei

Mechanism of improving forward and reverse blocking voltages in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by using Schottky drain

In this paper, we demonstrate that a Schottky drain can improve the forward and reverse blocking voltages (BVs) simultaneously in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The mechanism of improving the two BVs is investigated by analysing the leakage current components and by software simulation. The forward BV increases from 72 V to 149 V due to the good Schottky contact morphology. During the reverse bias, the buffer leakage in the Ohmicdrain HEMT increases significantly with the increase of the negative drain bias. For the Schottky-drain HEMT, the buffer leakage is suppressed effectively by the formation of the depletion region at the drain terminal. As a result, the reverse BV is enhanced from −5 V to −49 V by using a Schottky drain. Experiments and the simulation indicate that a Schottky drain is desirable for power electronic applications.In this paper, we demonstrate that a Schottky drain can improve the forward and reverse blocking voltages(BVs)simultaneously in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors(HEMTs). The mechanism of improving the two BVs is investigated by analysing the leakage current components and by software simulation. The forward BV increases from72 V to 149 V due to the good Schottky contact morphology. During the reverse bias, the buffer leakage in the Ohmicdrain HEMT increases significantly with the increase of the negative drain bias. For the Schottky-drain HEMT, the buffer leakage is suppressed effectively by the formation of the depletion region at the drain terminal. As a result, the reverse BV is enhanced from-5 V to-49 V by using a Schottky drain. Experiments and the simulation indicate that a Schottky drain is desirable for power electronic applications.

Field plate structural optimization for enhancing the power gain of GaN-based HEMTs

A novel source-connected field plate structure, featuring the same photolithography mask as the gate electrode, is proposed as an improvement over the conventional field plate (FP) techniques to enhance the frequency performance in GaN-based HEMTs. The influences of the field plate on frequency and breakdown performance are investigated simultaneously by using a two-dimensional physics-based simulation. Compared with the conventional T-gate structures with a field plate length of 1.2 μm, this field plate structure can induce the small signal power gain at 10 GHz to increase by 5-9.5 dB, which depends on the distance between source FP and dramatically shortened gate FP. This technique minimizes the parasitic capacitances, especially the gate-to-drain capacitance, showing a substantial potential for millimeter-wave, high power applications.

Reverse blocking enhancement of drain field plate in Schottky-drain AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors

In this paper, we present the combination of drain field plate(FP) and Schottky drain to improve the reverse blocking capability, and investigate the reverse blocking enhancement of drain FP in Schottky-drain AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors(HEMTs). Drain FP and gate FP were employed in a two-dimensional simulation to improve the reverse blocking voltage(VRB) and the forward blocking voltage(VFB). The drain-FP length, the gate-FP length and the passivation layer thickness were optimized. VRBand VFBwere improved from-67 V and 134 V to-653 V and 868 V respectively after optimization. Simulation results suggest that the combination of drain FP and Schottky drain can enhance the reverse blocking capability significantly.In this paper, we present the combination of drain field plate (FP) and Schottky drain to improve the reverse blocking capability, and investigate the reverse blocking enhancement of drain FP in Schottky-drain AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Drain FP and gate FP were employed in a two-dimensional simulation to improve the reverse blocking voltage (VRB) and the forward blocking voltage (VFB). The drain-FP length, the gate-FP length and the passivation layer thickness were optimized. VRB and VFB were improved from −67 V and 134 V to −653 V and 868 V respectively after optimization. Simulation results suggest that the combination of drain FP and Schottky drain can enhance the reverse blocking capability significantly.

A two-dimensional fully analytical model with polarization effect for off-state channel potential and electric field distributions of GaN-based field-plated high electron mobility transistor

In this paper, we present a two-dimensional (2D) fully analytical model with consideration of polarization effect for the channel potential and electric field distributions of the gate field-plated high electron mobility transistor (FP-HEMT) on the basis of 2D Poissons solution. The dependences of the channel potential and electric field distributions on drain bias, polarization charge density, FP structure parameters, AlGaN/GaN material parameters, etc. are investigated. A simple and convenient approach to designing high breakdown voltage FP-HEMTs is also proposed. The validity of this model is demonstrated by comparison with the numerical simulations with Silvaco—Atlas. The method in this paper can be extended to the development of other analytical models for different device structures, such as MIS-HEMTs, multiple-FP HETMs, slant-FP HEMTs, etc.

Non-recessed-gate quasi-E-mode double heterojunction AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor with high breakdown voltage

A non-recessed-gate quasi-E-mode double heterojunction AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (quasi-E-DHEMT) with a thin barrier, high breakdown voltage and good performance of drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) was presented. Due to the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown 9-nm undoped AlGaN barrier, the effect that the gate metal depleted the two-dimensiomal electron gas (2DEG) was greatly impressed. Therefore, the density of carriers in the channel was nearly zero. Hence, the threshold voltage was above 0 V. Quasi-E-DHEMT with 4.1-μm source-to-drain distance, 2.6-μm gate-to-drain distance, and 0.5-μm gate length showed a drain current of 260 mA/mm. The threshold voltage of this device was 0.165 V when the drain voltage was 10 V and the DIBL was 5.26 mV/V. The quasi-E-DHEMT drain leakage current at a drain voltage of 146 V and a gate voltage of −6 V was below 1 mA/mm. This indicated that the hard breakdown voltage was more than 146 V.

AlGaN Channel High Electron Mobility Transistors with Ultra-Low Drain-Induced-Barrier-Lowering Coefficient

The conventional AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), the AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN HEMT, and the AlxGa1−xN/AlyGa1−yN HEMT are fabricated on sapphire substrates to study the drain-induced barrier-lowering (DIBL) effect. It is found that the AlxGa1−xN/AlyGa1−yN HEMT with AlGaN channel has the lowest DIBL coefficient of 6.7 mV/V compared with the other two HEMTs. This is attributed to the best two-dimensional electron gas confinement of the AlxGa1−xN/AlyGa1−yN structure. This opinion is further confirmed by the conduction band diagrams and electron distribution calculated from the one-dimensional Poisson—Schrodinger equation.

Influence of a drain field plate on the forward blocking characteristics of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor

In this paper, the influence of a drain field plate (FP) on the forward blocking characteristics of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is investigated. The HEMT with only a gate FP is optimized, and breakdown voltage VBR is saturated at 1085 V for gate—drain spacing LGD ≥ 8 μm. On the basis of the HEMT with a gate FP, a drain FP is added with LGD = 10 μm. For the length of the drain FP LDF ≤ 2 μm, VBR is almost kept at 1085 V, showing no degradation. When LDF exceeds 2 μm, VBR decreases obviously as LDF increases. Moreover, the larger the LDF, the larger the decrease of VBR. It is concluded that the distance between the gate edge and the drain FP edge should be larger than a certain value to prevent the drain FP from affecting the forward blocking voltage and the value should be equal to the LGD at which VBR begins to saturate in the first structure. The electric field and potential distribution are simulated and analyzed to account for the decrease of VBR.

Improved performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMT by N2O plasma pre-treatment

The influence of an N2O plasma pre-treatment technique on characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) prepared by using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system is presented. After the plasma treatment, the peak transconductance (gm) increases from 209 mS/mm to 293 mS/mm. Moreover, it is observed that the reverse gate leakage current is lowered by one order of magnitude and the drain current dispersion is improved in the plasma-treated device. From the analysis of frequency-dependent conductance, it can be seen that the trap state density (DT) and time constant (τT) of the N2O-treated device are smaller than those of a non-treated device. The results indicate that the N2O plasma pre-pretreatment before the gate metal deposition could be a promising approach to enhancing the performance of the device.

Al0.30Ga0.70N/GaN/Al0.07Ga0.93N Double Heterostructure High Electron Mobility Transistors with a Record Saturation Drain Current of 1050mA/mm*

We report Al0.30Ga0.70N/GaN/Al0.07Ga0.93N double heterostructure high electron mobility transistors with a record saturation drain current of 1050 mA/mm. By optimizing the graded buffer layer and the GaN channel thickness, both the crystal quality and the device performance are improved significantly, including electron mobility promoted from 1535 to 1602 cm2/Vs, sheet carrier density improved from 0.87×1013 to 1.15×1013 cm−2, edge dislocation density reduced from 2.4×109 to 1.3×109 cm−2, saturation drain current promoted from 757 to record 1050 mA/mm, mesa leakage reduced by two orders in magnitude, and breakdown voltage promoted from 72 to 108 V.

Investigation of trap states in Al2O3 InAlN/GaN metal–oxide–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors*

In this paper the trapping effects in Al2O3/In0.17Al0.83N/Ga N MOS-HEMT(here, HEMT stands for high electron mobility transistor) are investigated by frequency-dependent capacitance and conductance analysis. The trap states are found at both the Al2O3/In Al N and In Al N/Ga N interface. Trap states in In Al N/Ga N heterostructure are determined to have mixed de-trapping mechanisms, emission, and tunneling. Part of the electrons captured in the trap states are likely to tunnel into the two-dimensional electron gas(2DEG) channel under serious band bending and stronger electric field peak caused by high Al content in the In Al N barrier, which explains the opposite voltage dependence of time constant and relation between the time constant and energy of the trap states.In this paper the trapping effects in Al2O3/In0.17Al0.83N/GaN MOS-HEMT (here, HEMT stands for high electron mobility transistor) are investigated by frequency-dependent capacitance and conductance analysis. The trap states are found at both the Al2O3/InAlN and InAlN/GaN interface. Trap states in InAlN/GaN heterostructure are determined to have mixed de-trapping mechanisms, emission, and tunneling. Part of the electrons captured in the trap states are likely to tunnel into the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel under serious band bending and stronger electric field peak caused by high Al content in the InAlN barrier, which explains the opposite voltage dependence of time constant and relation between the time constant and energy of the trap states.