Conformal Passivation of Multi-Channel GaN Power Transistors for Reduced Current Collapse

Nela, Luca; Yildirim, Halil Kerim; Erine, Catherine; Erp, Remco van; Peng, Xiang; Cheng, Kai; Matioli, Elison

doi:10.1109/led.2020.3038808

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Such performance considerably surpasses the state-of-the-art of conventional singlechannel devices and opens new perspectives for GaN power devices (Figure 37). Besides, multichannel devices passivated by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) Si3N4 presented reduced current collapse up to high voltage stress and excellent VTH stability both during switching and high-temperature operation, showing the potential of such technology [140]. Further research on this topic will likely concentrate on the optimization of the multi-channel heterostructure and on additional methods to achieve large positive VTH.…”

Section: Multi-channel Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

GaN-based power devices: Physics, reliability, and perspectives

Meneghini

Santi

Abid

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Physics

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294

126

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Over the last decade, gallium nitride has emerged as an excellent material for the fabrication of power devices. Among the semiconductors for which power devices are already available on the market, GaN has the widest energy gap, the largest critical field, the highest saturation velocity, thus representing an excellent material for the fabrication of high speed/high voltage components.The presence of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization allows to create a 2-dimensional electron gas, with high mobility and large channel density, in absence of any doping, thanks to the use of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. This contributes to minimize resistive losses; at the same time, for GaN transistors switching losses are very low, thanks to the small parasitic capacitances and switching charges. Device scaling and monolithic integration enable high frequency operation, with consequent advantages in terms of miniaturization.For high power/high voltage operation, vertical device architectures are being proposed and investigated, and 3-dimensional structuresfin-shaped, trench-structured, nanowire-basedare demonstrating a great potential. Contrary to silicon, GaN is a relatively young material: trapping and degradation processes must be understood and described in detail, with the aim of optimizing device stability and reliability. This tutorial paper describes the physics, technology and reliability of GaN-based power devices: in the first part of the article, starting from a discussion of the main properties of the material, the characteristics of lateral and vertical GaN transistors are discussed in detail, to provide guidance in this complex and interesting field. The second part of the paper focuses on trapping and reliability aspects: the physical origin of traps in GaN, and the main degradation mechanisms are discussed in detail. The wide set of referenced papers and the insight on the most relevant aspects gives the reader a comprehensive overview on present and next-generation GaN electronics. IntroductionOver the past decade, gallium nitride has emerged as an excellent material for the fabrication of power semiconductor devices. Thanks to the unique properties of GaN, diodes and transistors based on this material have excellent performance, compared to their silicon counterparts, and are expected to find wide application in the next-generation power converters. Owing to the flexibility and the energy efficiency of GaN-based power converters, the interest towards this technology is rapidly growing: the aim of this tutorial is to review the most relevant physical properties, the operating principles, the fabrication parameters, and the stability/reliability issues of GaN-based power transistors. For introductory purposes, we start summarizing the physical reasons why GaN transistors achieve a much better performance than the corresponding silicon devices, to help the reader understanding the unique advantages of this technology.The properties of GaN devices allow the fabrication of high-efficiency (near or above 99 %)...

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Section: Multi-channel Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

GaN-based power devices: Physics, reliability, and perspectives

Meneghini

Santi

Abid

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Physics

Self Cite

294

126

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“…A large improvement in device conductivity with high BV gd has been made recently in multi-channel power devices [99,100], giving exceptional DC performances [101]. These devices stack multiple AlGaN/GaN layers to create several 2DEGs.…”

Section: Current Collapse Suppressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An insight to current collapse in GaN HEMT and suppressing techniques

et al. 2023

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High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT) made of aluminum gallium nitride/gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) have become a major focus for all electronic devices based on gallium nitride due to its excellent system characteristics. AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have severe issues that degrade their performance and the drain current collapse (CC) is one of them. During switching operations, the CC increases the on-resistance (Ron) leading to an increase in device loss and temperature. This review features the basics related to the current collapse in HEMT and its significance in performance degradation. This paper is concerned with the various advancements reported in recent years to suppress CC in GaN HEMT. Various techniques such as passivation, illumination, free-standing GaN substrate, GaN cap layer including high resistivity GaN cap layer, buffer design, and field plates (FP) have been introduced by various researchers to combat CC. This review analysis will help researchers to employ suitable techniques in their HEMT design for future development.

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“…Whether it is static or dynamic, one common factor can be found that the existence of hot electrons has a significant effect on the performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMT due to the capture and release by bulk traps [16]. Some methods have been proposed to reduce the current collapse and shorten the switching time, for example, passivation technology can effectively reduce the effect of traps on the device surface [17,18], a Nitride-based plasma treatment can result in the improved current slump, suppressed gate leakage current, field plate structure can reduce the high electric field at the gate edge on the drain side [19], and multimesa channel fabricated by etching periodic trenches to form multiple mesas under the metal gate can suppress the current collapse by separate and isolate the channel(looks like fin structure) to improve the gate control over the drain current [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suppression of hot electron effect in AlGaN/GaN HEMT with multi-grooves barrier-etched structure

Liu

2023

Mater. Res. Express

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A multi-grooves barrier-etched structure between barrier layer and passivation layer is proposed in this paper to suppress the hot electron effect at the gate edge on the drain side in the p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor. In the TCAD simulations, the groove structure induces extra electric field concentration region and AlGaN/SiN interface area, which can lower the high electric field peak and lattice temperature in the channel at the gate edge, leading to the alleviated capture and release of hot electrons. The static I-V characteristic and dynamic switching performance and breakdown characteristic show that the multi-grooves barrier-etched structure improves the current collapse and switching time and breakdown voltage. Our work exhibits the great potential of multi-grooves barrier-etched structure on the stability and reliability of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT.

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Conformal Passivation of Multi-Channel GaN Power Transistors for Reduced Current Collapse

Cited by 20 publications

References 20 publications

GaN-based power devices: Physics, reliability, and perspectives

GaN-based power devices: Physics, reliability, and perspectives

An insight to current collapse in GaN HEMT and suppressing techniques

Suppression of hot electron effect in AlGaN/GaN HEMT with multi-grooves barrier-etched structure

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