Normally-off GaN-HEMTs with p-type gate: Off-state degradation, forward gate stress and ESD failure

Meneghini, Matteo; Hilt, Oliver; Fleury, Clément; Silvestri, Riccardo; Capriotti, Mattia; Strasser, G.; Pogány, D.; Bahat‐Treidel, Eldad; Brunner, F.; Knauer, A.; Würfl, Joachim; Rossetto, Isabella; Zanoni, Enrico; Meneghesso, Gaudenzio; Dalcanale, Stefano

doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2015.11.026

Cited by 24 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…[522] An additional similarity with the dielectric degradation is the exponential dependence of the timeto-failure on the stress voltage, which is also found to be Weibull-distributed. The shape parameter β has been reported to be lower than 1, suggesting an extrinsic breakdown mechanism, [520], [523],…”

Section: Degradation Of P-gan Gate Stacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Meneghini

Santi

Abid

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Physics

250

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: Degradation Of P-gan Gate Stacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Meneghini

Santi

Abid

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Physics

250

126

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…GaN-based devices are promising for next-generation high-efficiency, high-frequency, high-temperature, and high-power applications due to their superior material properties [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. According to the application requirements, it is necessary to improve the electric performance of GaN devices [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Breakdown Voltage and Threshold Voltage Stability by Clamping Channel Potential for Short-Channel Power p-GaN HEMTs

et al. 2022

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This paper proposes a novel p-GaN HEMT (P-HEMT) by clamping channel potential to improve breakdown voltage (BV) and threshold voltage (VTH) stability. The clamping channel potential for P-HEMT is achieved by a partially-recessed p-GaN layer (PR p-GaN layer). At high drain bias, the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel under the PR p-GaN layer is depleted to withstand the drain bias. Therefore, the channel potential at the drain-side of the p-GaN layer is clamped to improve BV and VTH stability. Compared with the conventional p-GaN HEMT (C-HEMT), simulation results show that the BV is improved by 120%, and the VTH stability induced by high drain bias is increased by 490% for the same on-resistance. In addition, the influence of the PR p-GaN layers’ length, thickness, doping density on BV and VTH stability is analyzed. The proposed device can be a good reference to improve breakdown voltage and threshold voltage stability for short-channel power p-GaN HEMTs.

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“…In addition, GaN-based transistors may suffer from gradual and catastrophic failure processes; in most of the cases, the catastrophic degradation takes place in proximity of the gate, since this is the region where the electric field is at maximum during off-state operation. Recent studies reported the existence of time-dependent breakdown processes in Schottky-gated transistors [9], in MIS-HEMTs [10], and in devices with a p-type gate [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability and parasitic issues in GaN-based power HEMTs: a review

Meneghesso

Meneghini

Rossetto

et al. 2016

Semicond. Sci. Technol.

118

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Despite the potential of GaN-based power transistors, these devices still suffer from certain parasitic and reliability issues that limit their static and dynamic performance and the maximum switching frequency. The aim of this paper is to review our most recent results on the parasitic mechanisms that affect the performance of GaN-on-Si HEMTs; more specifically, we describe the following relevant processes: (i) trapping of electrons in the buffer, which is induced by offstate operation; (ii) trapping of hot electrons, which is promoted by semi-on state operation; (iii) trapping of electrons in the gate insulator, which is favored by the exposure to positive gate bias. Moreover, we will describe one of the most critical reliability aspects of Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor HEMTs (MIS-HEMTs), namely time-dependent dielectric breakdown.

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Normally-off GaN-HEMTs with p-type gate: Off-state degradation, forward gate stress and ESD failure

Cited by 24 publications

References 17 publications

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

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

Improving Breakdown Voltage and Threshold Voltage Stability by Clamping Channel Potential for Short-Channel Power p-GaN HEMTs

Reliability and parasitic issues in GaN-based power HEMTs: a review

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