Improved X-Band Performance and Reliability of a GaN HEMT With Sunken Source Connected Field Plate Design

Bothe, Kyle M.; Ganguly, Satyaki; Guo, Jia; Liu, Yueying; Niyonzima, Alex; Tornblad, O.; Fisher, Jeremy; Gajewski, Don A.; Sheppard, S.T.; Noori, Basim

doi:10.1109/led.2022.3146194

Cited by 26 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The improvement methods for the nonlinear capacitance are relatively few. For example, Xue et al [62] added a gate diode to compensate the nonlinear C GS for the GaN HEMT. Bothe et al [63] designed a new sunken source field plate to reduce C GS and C GD by 15% and 60% respectively.…”

Section: Improvement Methods Of Transconductancementioning

confidence: 99%

A review on GaN HEMTs: nonlinear mechanisms and improvement methods

Du,

Ye,

Cai

et al. 2023

J. Semicond.

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The GaN HEMT is a potential candidate for RF applications due to the high frequency and large power handling capability. To ensure the quality of the communication signal, linearity is a key parameter during the system design. However, the GaN HEMT usually suffers from the nonlinearity problems induced by the nonlinear parasitic capacitance, transconductance, channel transconductance etc. Among them, the transconductance reduction is the main contributor for the nonlinearity and is mostly attributed to the scattering effect, the increasing resistance of access region, the self-heating effect and the trapping effects. Based on the mechanisms, device-level improvement methods of transconductance including the trapping suppression, the nanowire channel, the graded channel, the double channel, the transconductance compensation and the new material structures have been proposed recently. The features of each method are reviewed and compared to provide an overview perspective on the linearity of the GaN HEMT at the device level.

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Section: Improvement Methods Of Transconductancementioning

confidence: 99%

A review on GaN HEMTs: nonlinear mechanisms and improvement methods

Du,

Ye,

Cai

et al. 2023

J. Semicond.

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“…The most widely used method to improve the breakdown voltage is introducing field plates (FPs) [7][8][9] . FPs can modulate the electric field distribution and alleviate high electric field near the drain side of the gate.…”

Section: Devicementioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Stacked Passivation Structure for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Silicon With High Johnson’s Figures of Merit

Liu

Qin

Chen

et al. 2023

IEEE J. Electron Devices Soc.

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We present a high-performance AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on silicon substrate with novel stacked passivation layer (HfO2/SiO2). The stacked passivation structure can effectively modulate the electric field and reduce the electric field peak on the gate side, thus improving the breakdown voltage of the device. The prepared device with a gate length of 450 nm has a unit current gain cutoff frequency (fT) of 31.5 GHz, a maximum oscillation frequency (fMAX) of 46.3 GHz, and a three-terminal OFF-state breakdown voltage (BVgd) of 140 V at the gate-drain distance of 2.3 μm. The estimated Johnson's figure of merit (J-FOM=BVgd×f T) is 4.4 THz•V, which is three and five times higher than that of the device with single HfO2 passivation layer and single SiO2 passivation layer, respectively. Furthermore, a significant suppression of the current collapse (~ 5.7%) is observed due to the electric field redistribution near the drain region. The results show that the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with stacked passivation layer proved to be a promising candidate for high-performance radio frequency (RF) power device applications. Index Terms-AlGaN/GaN HEMTs; breakdown voltage; stacked passivation layer I. INTRODUCTIONALLIUM-NITRIDE based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are promising candidates for high power and radio-frequency (RF) applications due to the excellent material characteristics [1][2][3][4][5] . For high microwave power applications, high Johnson's figures of merit (J-FOM = BVgd×f T) is desirable for the devices [5,6] . Therefore, under the premise of ensuring the unit gain cutoff frequency (fT), it is particularly important to improve the three-terminal off-state breakdown voltage (BVgd) of the Manuscript

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“…One typical technique is the field plate (FP), which gains the widest applications due to its effectiveness and simplicity. Although various FP structures such as the gate FP, source FP, drain FP, floating FP and stepped FP have been developed [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], they have a consistent principle that the improved distribution of E channel relies on inducing charges at the FP end. Since these induced charges can expand the depleted channel and introduce new peaks of E channel , the E channel_gate is reduced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fig 6. Comparison of the (a) energy band diagrams and (b) electron density along channel at V DS of 200 V, and (c) the C GD varied with V DS .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel field plate with arcuate end for improving GaN HEMTs

Cheng,

Liu,

Luo

et al. 2024

Electronics Letters

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A new field plate (FP) is proposed for gallium nitride high‐electron‐mobility transistors (HEMTs). It features an innovative arcuate end (AE), which allows the induced charges that originally gathered at the FP end to diffuse over a wider area. Hence, not only is the electric field in the channel at the gate edge alleviated due to the induced charges, but also that concentrated at the FP end is reduced by means of AE. The simulation results indicate that by upgrading a source FP with AE, HEMT gains a 99% increase in breakdown voltage while remaining unaltered in specific on‐resistance. It also gets a 43.41% decrease in power loss during one cycle while maintaining the same breakdown voltage, which greatly contributes to enhance the efficiency of power electronic circuits.

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Improved X-Band Performance and Reliability of a GaN HEMT With Sunken Source Connected Field Plate Design

Cited by 26 publications

References 8 publications

A review on GaN HEMTs: nonlinear mechanisms and improvement methods

A review on GaN HEMTs: nonlinear mechanisms and improvement methods

Novel Stacked Passivation Structure for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Silicon With High Johnson’s Figures of Merit

A novel field plate with arcuate end for improving GaN HEMTs

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