We report on the frequency dependent conductance measurements of AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors (MOSHFETs). The properties of the devices with as-deposited and annealed 9-nm-thick Al2O3 gate oxide were investigated. The trap density in the range of 1011 cm−2 eV−1 was evaluated for the nonannealed devices. However, the conductance versus frequency peaks were significantly broader than those expected from theory, which indicates a surface potential fluctuation due to nonuniformities in the oxide charge and interface traps. Additionally, the dependence of the trap state time constant on gate voltage showed a deviation from the expected exponential function. However, the annealed devices (680 °C, 5 min) yielded a slightly lower (∼75%) trap density. Moreover, the conductance versus frequency data and the time constant versus gate voltage dependence of the annealed devices were in full agreement with the theoretical ones. The results show that the frequency dependent conductance analysis can be a useful tool for the characterization of AlGaN/GaN MOSHFETs.

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The authors report on improved transport properties of Al2O3∕AlGaN∕GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors (MOSHFETs). It is found that the drift mobility in the MOSHFET structures with 4nm thick Al2O3 gate oxide is significantly higher than that in HFETs. The zero-bias mobilities are 1950 and 1630cm2∕Vs for the MOSHFET and HFET, respectively. An ∼40% increase of the saturation drain current in the MOSHFETs compared to the HFETs seems to be larger than expected from the passivation effects. The MOSHFET devices show a higher transconductance (with peak values of ∼115mS∕mm) than the HFETs (∼70mS∕mm). Analysis of the device performance indicates a decrease of the parasitic series resistance together with an enhancement of the effective velocity of the channel electrons in the MOSHFET devices.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 was used to prepare metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices on two different_AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, with and without a thin GaN cap layer. Their trapping effects were evaluated by the frequency dependent conductance measurement. The trap state density decreased sharply from ∼1×1012 cm−2 eV−1 at the energy of 0.27 eV to ∼3×1010 cm−2 eV−1 at 0.45 eV. The low trap state density and exactly exponential dependence of the trap state time constant on the gate voltage show a good quality of the gate oxide. The trap state density in the structure with a GaN cap is about 2–3 times lower than that in the structure without a cap, which might be due to the different Al2O3/GaN and Al2O3/AlGaN interface properties. The trap state density in the structures investigated is lower than those reported for the devices with the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and Al-oxidized Al2O3 gate oxide. This shows an importance of the ALD technique for the preparation of high-performance AlGaN/GaN MOS transistors.

AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors (MOSHFETs) with 4 nm thick Al 2 O 3 gate oxide were prepared and their performance was compared with that of AlGaN/GaN HFETs. The MOSHFETs yielded ∼40% increase of the saturation drain current compared with the HFETs, which is larger than expected due to the gate oxide passivation. Despite a larger gate-channel separation in the MOSHFETs, a higher extrinsic transconductance than that of the HFETs was measured. The drift mobility of the MOSHFETs, evaluated on large-gate FET structures, was significantly higher than that of the HFETs. The zero-bias mobility for MOSHFETs and HFETs was 1950 cm 2 V -1 s -1 and 1630 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , respectively. These features indicate an increase of the drift velocity and/or a decrease of the parasitic series resistance in the MOSHFETs. The current collapse, evaluated from pulsed I−V measurements, was highly suppressed in the MOSHFETs with 4 nm thick Al 2 O 3 gate oxide. This result, together with the suppressed frequency dispersion of the capacitance, indicates that the density of traps in the Al 2 O 3 /AlGaN/GaN MOSHFETs was significantly reduced.

Frequency dependent conductance measurements at varied temperature between 25 and 260 °C were performed to analyze trapping effects in the Al2O3/AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors. The trap states with a time constant τT,f≅(0.1–1) μs (fast) and τT,s=10 ms (slow) were identified. The conductance measurements at increased temperatures made it possible to evaluate the fast trap states in about a four times broader energy range than that from room temperature measurement. The density of the fast traps decreased from 1.4×1012 cm−2 eV−1 at an energy of 0.27 eV to about 3×1011 cm−2 eV−1 at ET=0.6 eV. The density of the slow traps was significantly higher than that of the fast traps, and it increased with increased temperature from about 3×1012 cm−2 eV−1 at 25–35 °C to 8×1013 cm−2 eV−1 at 260 °C.

We report on a temperature dependent threshold voltage analysis of the AlGaN∕GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) and Al2O3∕AlGaN∕GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor HFETs (MOSHFETs) in order to investigate the trap effects in these devices. The threshold voltage of both types of devices decreases with increased ambient temperature up to 450°C. This indicates on donor traps to be present. The temperature induced threshold voltage shift is −1.6 and −8.5mV∕°C for the HFETs and MOSHFETs, respectively. A thermally activated energy level of ∼0.2eV is evaluated and attributed to the nitrogen vacancy in the AlGaN near surface. The trap density for the MOSHFETs is about two times higher than that for the HFETs. This might be due to the high-temperature treatment (∼600°C) of the MOSHFET structure during the gate insulator deposition.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is one of the front-runner materials among the so-called wide bandgap semiconductors that can provide devices having high breakdown voltages and are capable of performing efficiently even at high temperatures. The wide bandgap, however, naturally leads to a high density of surface states on bare GaN-based devices or interface states along insulator/semiconductor interfaces distributed over a wide energy range. These electronic states can lead to instabilities and other problems when not appropriately managed. In this Tutorial, we intend to provide a pedagogical presentation of the models of electronic states, their effects on device performance, and the presently accepted approaches to minimize their effects such as surface passivation and insulated gate technologies. We also re-evaluate standard characterization methods and discuss their possible pitfalls and current limitations in probing electronic states located deep within the bandgap. We then introduce our own photo-assisted capacitance–voltage (C–V) technique, which is capable of identifying and examining near mid-gap interface states. Finally, we attempt to propose some directions to which some audience can venture for future development.