The Effect of an Fe-doped GaN Buffer on off-State Breakdown Characteristics in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Si Substrate (original) (raw)
2006, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
An Fe-doped GaN buffer layer was employed in the growth of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on Si substrates. In order to investigate the effects of an Fe-doped GaN buffer on OFF-state breakdown characteristics, HEMT devices with an Fe-doped GaN buffer on Si substrates were fabricated along with conventional devices utilizing an unintentionally doped GaN buffer on Si substrates. The device characteristics were compared. While HEMT devices with the conventional structure showed an extremely unstable OFF-state breakdown behavior due to punchthrough to the Si substrate, it was demonstrated that an Fe-doped GaN buffer layer on a Si substrate successfully suppressed the premature failure caused by Si-induced breakdown. As a result, the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with an Fe-doped GaN buffer on Si substrates exhibited much more consistent and enhanced breakdown voltages, when compared with the conventional devices. Consequently, it is highly desirable that AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Si substrates have an Fe-doped GaN buffer layer in order to achieve stable and robust OFF-state breakdown characteristics. Index Terms-AlGaN/GaN, breakdown characteristics, Fe doping, high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT), Si substrate. I. INTRODUCTION P OWER semiconductor switching devices have been widely developed, focusing on the reduction of power loss in high-power switching applications such as switching mode power supplies and inverter systems [1]. In these applications, higher breakdown voltage (BV) and lower specific ON-resistance (AR DS(ON)) are both desirable to minimize power loss in a power device. Silicon carbide (SiC) devices have been investigated extensively as potential high-voltage switches with a low ON-resistance [2], [3]. Another attractive candidate for high-power switching operation is AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) because they have higher sheet carrier density (n s
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