InP-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are potential candidates for sub-millimeter wave and terahertz satellite communications due to their ultrahigh frequency performance. Therefore, the study of their irradiation reliability is extremely urgent. In this paper, a 2 MeV proton irradiation experiment has been carried out in InP-based HEMTs, and damage mechanisms have been systematically studied, including dc and rf characteristics. The experimental results show that InP-based HEMTs have wondrously excellent radiation tolerance. The degradation of electrical characteristics occurs only when the irradiation fluence is higher than 1 × 1013 H+/cm2. The drain saturation current and the maximum transconductance have, respectively, decreased by 7.1% and 5.4% at a fluence of 1 × 1014 H+/cm2. Different from the other III–V HEMTs, the irradiated InP-based HEMTs exhibited an abnormality in the “peak collapse” of transconductance. Rf characteristics' parameters demonstrate slighter degradation compared to dc transconductance. Transmission line model (TLM) measurement and Schottky barrier calculation have shown that there is no noticeable degradation of an Ohmic contact and a Schottky contact; therefore, the main possible reason for device degradation comes from the interior of a semiconductor structure. Furthermore, device simulation indicates that defects introduced by irradiation on the upper and lower heterojunction interface of the channel and the interface of the gate recess should be responsible for degradation. Our experiments show that InP-based HEMTs have excellent radiation resistance, and they have good prospects for applications in radiation environments.

In this paper, the effect of 1 MeV electron radiation on the kink effect in S 22 of InP-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) has been comprehensively analyzed. The radiated fluence is varied among 1 × 10 14 cm −2 , 1 × 10 15 cm −2 and 1 × 10 16 cm −2 . The size change of the kink effect before and after radiation is expressed by self-normalization and standard deviation. The results show that the kink effect appears at 36 GHz and becomes distinct in the sub-threshold region. The non-monotonous trend of the S 22 curve caused by the kink effect increases as the fluence increases. The dual-feedback circuit methodology is adopted to explain the influence of electron radiation on the kink effect; moreover, the change of transconductance and gate capacitance is the main reason for the influence of electron radiation on the kink effect in S 22 . This research will provide theoretical guidance for InP-based HEMTs to be used in space radiation applications.

This paper proposes a reasonable radiation-resistant composite channel structure for InP HEMTs. The simulation results show that the composite channel structure has excellent electrical properties due to increased modulation doping efficiency and carrier confinement. Moreover, the direct current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) characteristics and their reliability between the single channel structure and the composite channel structure after 75-keV proton irradiation are compared in detail. The results show that the composite channel structure has excellent radiation tolerance. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the composite channel structure weakens the carrier removal effect. This phenomenon can account for the increase of native carrier and the decrease of defect capture rate.

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