Strain Effects in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Microstructural response of gallium nitride (GaN) films, grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, was studied as a function of applied electrical field. In-situ transmission electron microscopy showed sudden change in the electron diffraction pattern reflecting domain switching at around 20 V bias, applied perpendicular to the polarization direction. No such switching was observed for thicker films or for the field applied along the polarization direction. This anomalous behavior is explained by the nanoscale size effects on the piezoelectric coefficients of GaN, which can be 2–3 times larger than the bulk value. As a result, a large amount of internal energy can be imparted in 100 nm thick films to induce domain switching at relatively lower voltages to induce such events at the bulk scale.

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Excimer laser liftoff of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on thick AlN heat spreaders

Alam

Gaevski

Jewel

et al. 2021

Applied Physics Letters

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We report on 193 nm excimer laser-based liftoff (LLO) of Al0.26Ga0.74N/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with thick (t > 10 μm) AlN heat spreading buffer layers grown over sapphire substrates. The use of the thick AlN heat spreading layer resulted in thermal resistance (Rth) of 16 K mm/W for as-fabricated devices on sapphire, which is lower than the value of ∼25–50 K mm/W for standard HEMT structures on sapphire without the heat-spreaders. Soldering the LLO devices onto a copper heat sink led to a further reduction of Rth to 8 K mm/W, a value comparable to published measurements on bulk SiC substrates. The reduction in Rth by LLO and bonding to copper led to significantly reduced self-heating and drain current droop. A drain current density as high as 0.9 A/mm was observed despite a marginal reduction of the carrier mobility (∼1800 to ∼1500 cm2/V s). This is the highest drain current density and mobility reported to-date for LLO AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.

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Strain Effects in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Cited by 5 publications

References 63 publications

Dynamic piezotronic effect modulated AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with HfZrOx gate dielectric

Dynamic piezotronic effect modulated AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with HfZrOx gate dielectric

In-situ TEM study of domain switching in GaN thin films

Excimer laser liftoff of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on thick AlN heat spreaders

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