An updated temperature-dependent breakdown coupling model including both impact ionization and tunneling mechanisms for AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMTs

Li, H.P.; Hartin, O.; Ray, M.

doi:10.1109/ted.2002.802651

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The V BR values for these devices were similar to each other because the breakdown mechanism of pHEMT is dominated by semiconductor impact ionization between the gate and drain terminals. 7 Hence, the high-k MOSFET architecture in this study slightly affected the breakdown voltage of the pHEMT. Moreover, the soft breakdown mechanism was evident in the MOSFET architecture, indicating a MOS-like interface.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Comprehensive Study of GaAs MOSFETs Using Gadolinium Oxide and Praseodymium Oxide Layers

Chiu

Lin

et al. 2008

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The high-dielectric-constant ͑high-k͒ gadolinium oxide layer ͑Gd 2 O 3 ͒ and praseodymium oxide layer ͑Pr 2 O 3 ͒ are demonstrated as gate dielectric insulator materials in GaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors ͑MOSFETs͒ using in situ high oxygen flow rate electron-beam deposition technology. The dielectric constants of the Gd 2 O 3 and Pr 2 O 3 layers developed in this study were 9.2 and 9.8, respectively. The Schottky gate turn-on voltages of GaAs MOSFETs with Gd 2 O 3 and Pr 2 O 3 insulators were 2.23 and 2.25 V, respectively, representing an improvement on the conventional p-type high electron mobility transistors ͑0.85 V͒. Moreover, the Gd 2 O 3 MOSFETs had a higher thermal stability and thermal linearity than the Pr 2 O 3 MOSFET ͑tem-perature range 100-400 K͒ due to its high binding energy, as revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. GaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors ͑MOS-FETs͒ potentially have advantages over Si-based MOSFETs for use in high-power monolithic microwave integrated circuits because of their high electron mobility and high breakdown voltage. According to previous investigations, the Schottky gate leakage current and I ds -V ds hysteresis, which are both sensitive to the interface between GaAs and the gate electrode metal, limit the device linearity.1,2 Additionally the thermally stable high-k MOSFET architecture for GaAs field-effect transistor is superior to the metal-semiconductor Schottky interface in maintaining simultaneously a high channel control ability and a low insulator leakage current. Based on the works reported by other groups, 3,4 rare-earth metal oxide high-k layers were demonstrated on GaAs MOSFET using molecular beam epitaxy ͑MBE͒ and liquid phase epitaxy. The dielectric constants of the rare-earth metal oxide high-k layers were 15-30, and these reported devices exhibited stable and reliable performance. The gate metal was deposited using an electron-beam evaporator after the high-k material growth environment for these processes, and the fixed charge in the metal-oxide interface was an additional problem. The complicated gate formation approach is also difficult to be used in high-volume industrial production. In this investigation, Pr and Gd were electron-beam evaporated with a high oxygen flow rate to produce a high-quality high-k oxide layer after the gate recess process, and then Ti/Au metal was deposited in situ in the same highvacuum chamber. This novel technology can improve the Pr and Gd oxidization ratio, which was a major drawback in our previous study. 5 The dielectric constants of Gd 2 O 3 and Pr 2 O 3 developed using this technology were 9.2 and 9.8, respectively. Accordingly, Pr 2 O 3 MOSFETs achieved a higher drain-to-source current ͑I ds ͒ and a more stable pinch-off voltage ͑V p ͒ than Gd 2 O 3 MOSFETs due to their higher dielectric constant and channel modulation ability. Furthermore, to apply these high-k GaAs MOSFETs in microwave power amplifiers, which usually generate much heat during operation, temperature-...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Comprehensive Study of GaAs MOSFETs Using Gadolinium Oxide and Praseodymium Oxide Layers

Chiu

Lin

et al. 2008

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…BV gd is found to have increased from 12 to 19 V when we increased L gn+ from 0.3 to 0.5 μm. It is reported that the reverse bias breakdown mechanism in a pHEMT is based on the gate leakage current caused by the following possible mechanisms: impact ionization, TFE and tunnelling [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Here, BV gd is a strong function of peak electric field at gate edge towards drain.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the studies interpreted the Schottky breakdown mechanism by the thermionic field emission (TFE) [5,6], tunnelling [5,[7][8][9], or impact ionization [9][10][11], in which BV gd is a strong function of peak electric field at the gate edge towards drain. Hence, the tailoring of peak electric field 0268-1242/12/115013+07$33.00 at the gate edge to lower values has been shown to be essential to improve BV gd [12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gate recess structure engineering using silicon-nitride-assisted process for increased breakdown voltage in pseudomorphic HEMTs

Bhat¹,

Mandal²,

Pathak³

et al. 2012

Semicond. Sci. Technol.

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We report the fabrication of pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (pHEMTs) with engineered recess structure of any width of choice, by a single lithography and etching step with the help of silicon-nitride-assisted process. In this process, a silicon nitride layer is deposited prior to gate lithography. First, the silicon nitride is etched by buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF) in the gate opening and then selective recessing is performed. The recess base width can be engineered by varying etch time of silicon nitride in BHF. The base width increases linearly with etch time as shown by SEM. We demonstrate that the top photoresist gate opening that decides the gate length is unaffected by any duration of silicon nitride etch time. Thereby, we have engineered the distance from gate edge to n + -GaAs (L gn+ ) which decides the gate-to-drain breakdown voltage (BV gd ). With this method, BV gd increased from 12 to 20 V as a function of L gn+ . The electric field distribution across the recess structure has been simulated to interpret this result. Since the high BV gd of pHEMT is essential for power applications as well as switch applications, this method can be easily adopted even though the corresponding reduction in transconductance and unit current gain cut-off frequency (f t ) is only marginal from 375 to 350 mS mm −1 and from 39 to 31 GHz, respectively.

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“…The mechanism of this breakdown is a combination of tunneling and impact ionization (II) effects [28]- [31]. The excess tunneling generation rate G t and II generation rate G II can be calculated utilizing the WKB approximation [32] and the University of Bologna Impact Ionization Model [27], respectively. The breakdown drain current is calculated by:…”

Section: B Nonlinear Response Mechanism Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanism of AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT Nonlinear Response Under High-Power Microwave Radiation

Liu

Chai

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Electron Devices Soc.

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With the development of microelectronic technology, the reliability of devices in a complex electromagnetic environment has become one of the greatest challenges in the semiconductor industry. On this basis, a phenomenon of nonlinear transient response is observed in high-power microwave (HPM)-radiating AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistors (pHEMTs). This abnormal response is induced before the thermal failure, causing disturbances to the circuit. To understand this phenomenon, a detailed mechanism analysis is proposed. The analysis shows that the nonlinear response is initially associated with the 2DEG velocity saturation, then a breakdown process is induced by the tunneling and impact ionization combined effect. Within each radiation period, the channel current changes its direction twice under the influence of the HPM field. The nonlinear response current I d is derived from the theoretical analysis. TCAD simulations demonstrate the saturation and breakdown process. Corresponding experiments are performed using a Ka-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) chip. The results support the theory well.

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An updated temperature-dependent breakdown coupling model including both impact ionization and tunneling mechanisms for AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMTs

Cited by 13 publications

References 18 publications

Comprehensive Study of GaAs MOSFETs Using Gadolinium Oxide and Praseodymium Oxide Layers

Comprehensive Study of GaAs MOSFETs Using Gadolinium Oxide and Praseodymium Oxide Layers

Gate recess structure engineering using silicon-nitride-assisted process for increased breakdown voltage in pseudomorphic HEMTs

Mechanism of AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT Nonlinear Response Under High-Power Microwave Radiation

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