E. Bahat-Treidel, O. Hilt, F. Brunner, V. Sidorov, J. Würfl, and G. Tränkle

Published in:

IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 1208-1216 (2010).

Abstract:

GaN-based high-electron mobility transistors with planar multiple grating field plates (MGFPs) for high-voltage operation are described. A synergy effect with additional electron channel confinement by using a heterojunction AlGaN back barrier (BB) is demonstrated. Suppression of the OFF-state subthreshold gate and drain leakage currents enables breakdown voltage enhancement over 700 V and a low ON-state resistance of 0.68 mΩ × cm². Such devices have a minor tradeoff in ON-state resistance, lag factor, maximum oscillation frequency, and cutoff frequency. A systematic study of the MGFP design and the effect of Al composition in the BB is described. Physics-based device simulation results give insight into electric field distribution and charge carrier concentration, depending on the field plate design.

Index Terms:

AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT), double-heterojunction (DH)-HEMT, field plates (FPs), multiple grating field plates (MGFPs).

© Copyright 2010 IEEE - All Rights Reserved. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.

Full version in pdf-format.