Next generation electronics on the ultrawide-bandgap aluminum nitride platform

Abstract

Gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistors (GaN HEMTs) are at a point of rapid growth in defense (radar, SATCOM) and commercial (5G and beyond) industries. This growth also comes at a point at which the standard GaN heterostructures remain unoptimized for maximum performance. For this reason, we propose the shift to the aluminum nitride (AlN) platform. AlN allows for smarter, highly-scaled heterostructure design that will improve the output power and thermal management of III-nitride amplifiers. Beyond improvements over the incumbent amplifier technology, AlN will allow for a level of integration previously unachievable with GaN electronics. State-of-the-art high-current p-channel FETs, mature filter technology, and advanced waveguides, all monolithically integrated with an AlN/GaN/AlN HEMT, is made possible with AlN. It is on this new AlN platform that nitride electronics may maximize their full high-power, high-speed potential for mm-wave communication and high-power logic applications.

Very High Density (>1014 cm−2) Polarization‐Induced 2D Hole Gases Observed in Undoped Pseudomorphic InGaN/AlN Heterostructures

“…This should lower the p-type contact resistances in these pFETs even further, while maintaining integration possibilities for widebandgap CMOS. [11,40] Additionally, the in-plane strain in these regrown InGaN regions can be engineered to test the effect on 2DHG mobility. [26] The survival of the InGaN/AlN 2DHGs at cryogenic temperatures offers a unique platform of studying alloy disorder effects on the hole transport when phonons are frozen out.…”

“…This should lower the p‐type contact resistances in these pFETs even further, while maintaining integration possibilities for wide‐bandgap CMOS. [ 11,40 ] Additionally, the in‐plane strain in these regrown InGaN regions can be engineered to test the effect on 2DHG mobility. [ 26 ]…”

High conductivity Polarization-induced 2D hole gases in Undoped GaN/AlN Heterojunctions enabled by Impurity Blocking Layers

“…The same issues are also expected to arise if the polarity of the films are flipped, and a 2DEG is generated at the GaN/AlN interface on N-polar AlN buffer layer. With the rising relevance of AlN as the platform for UV photonics and future RF electronics 8,28 , significant interest exists in using 2DEGs and 2DHGs on AlN to make RF p-channel 7,29 and n-channel transistors 30,31 and enable wide-bandgap RF CMOS type devices. Combining the results of this work with recent advancements in homoepitaxial growths of AlN 32,33 should enable fundamental scientific studies of 2DEGs and 2DHGs in such polar heterostructures and simultaneously enable significant technological advances.…”

In Situ Crystalline AlN Passivation for Reduced RF Dispersion in Strained‐Channel AlN/GaN/AlN High‐Electron‐Mobility Transistors

“…The ultrawide‐bandgap semiconductor aluminum nitride (AlN) is a newly emerging platform [ 7 ] for mm‐wave integrated circuits (MMICs). It offers the possibility of integrating both active components such as p‐ and n‐channel transistors for PAs, low‐noise amplifiers (LNAs), and radio frequency (RF) CMOS and passive components such as AlN bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters [ 8 ] and SiC substrate‐integrated waveguides (SIWs).…”