Publications

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Gate length dependent (80 nm–5000 mm) radio frequency measurements to extract saturation velocity are reported for Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.7Ga0.3N high electron mobility transistors fabricated into radio frequency devices using electron beam lithography. Direct current characterization revealed the threshold voltage shifting positively with increasing gate length, with devices changing from depletion mode to enhancement mode when the gate length was greater than or equal to 450 nm. Transconductance varied from 10 mS/mm to 25 mS/mm, with the 450 nm device having the highest values. Maximum drain current density was 268 mA/mm at 10 V gate bias. Scattering-parameter characterization revealed a maximum unity gain bandwidth (fT) of 28 GHz, achieved by the 80 nm gate length device. A saturation velocity value of 3.8 × 106 cm/s, or 35% of the maximum saturation velocity reported for GaN, was extracted from the fT measurements.

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AlGaN-channel high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were operated as visible- and solar-blind photodetectors by using GaN nanodots as an optically active floating gate. The effect of the floating gate was large enough to switch an HEMT from the off-state in the dark to an on-state under illumination. This opto-electronic response achieved responsivity > 108 A/W at room temperature while allowing HEMTs to be electrically biased in the offstate for low dark current and low DC power dissipation. The influence of GaN nanodot distance from the HEMT channel on the dynamic range of the photodetector was investigated, along with the responsivity and temporal response of the floating gate HEMT as a function of optical intensity. The absorption threshold was shown to be controlled by the AlN mole fraction of the HEMT channel layer, thus enabling the same device design to be tuned for either visible- or solar-blind detection.

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Combined with recess etching, Al-rich III-N high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) can be treated with a reactive ion etch plasma to implant F- ions into the HEMT's near surface region for a positive threshold voltage $(V-{TH})$ shift to achieve enhancement-mode (e-mode) operation. These HEMTs, along with depletion-mode (d-mode) controls that lack fluorine treatment, were evaluated for F- ion stability using step-stress and fixed-bias stress experiments. Step-stress experiments identified parametric shifts as a function of the drain-voltage $(V-{DS})$ stress prior to catastrophic failure that occurred at ${\it V-{DS}}$ ranging between 70-75 V. Fixed bias stressing at $V-{DS}=50\mathrm{V}$ was conducted at $190\ ^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$ Both e- and d- mode HEMTs exhibited a negative $V-{TH}$ shift of $0.6-1.0 \mathrm{V}$ during early time stressing at 190°C, with minor on-resistance effects, but both HEMT types were thereafter stable up to 4 hours. The early time changes are common to both e-mode and d-mode HEMTs and the F-induced ${\it V-{TH}}$ delta between e- and d-mode HEMTs remains intact within the bias-temperature stressing conditions of this work.

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Enhancement-mode Al0.7Ga0.3N-channel high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were achieved through a combination of recessed etching and fluorine ion deposition to shift the threshold voltage (VTH) relative to depletion-mode devices by +5.6 V to VTH = +0.5 V. Accounting for the threshold voltage shift (ΔVTH), current densities of approximately 30 to 35 mA/mm and transconductance values of 13 mS/mm were achieved for both the control and enhancement mode devices at gate biases of 1 V and 6.6 V, respectively. Little hysteresis was observed for all devices, with voltage offsets of 20 mV at drain currents of 1.0 × 10-3mA/mm. Enhancement-mode devices exhibited slightly higher turn-on voltages (+0.38 V) for forward bias gate currents. Piecewise evaluation of a threshold voltage model indicated a ΔVTH of +3.3 V due to a gate recess etching of 12 nm and an additional +2.3 V shift due to fluorine ions near the AlGaN surface.

This work exhibits the ability to shift the threshold voltage of an Al0.45Ga0.55N/Al0.3Ga0.7N high electron mobility transistor through the implementation of a 100 nm thick p-Al0.3Ga0.7N gate. A maximum threshold voltage of +0.3 V was achieved with a 3 μm gate length. In addition to achieving enhancement-mode operation, this work also shows the capability to obtain high saturated drain current (>50 mA/mm), no gate hysteresis, high ION,MAX/IOFF,MIN ratio of >109, and exceptionally low gate leakage current of 10-6 mA/mm even under high forward bias of Vgs = 8 V.

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Al-rich AlGaN-channel high electron mobility transistors with 80-nm long gates and 85% (70%) Al in the barrier (channel) were evaluated for RF performance. The dc characteristics include a maximum current of 160 mA/mm with a transconductance of 24 mS/mm, limited by source and drain contacts, and an on/off current ratio of 109. fT of 28.4 GHz and fMAX of 18.5 GHz were determined from small-signal S-parameter measurements. Output power density of 0.38 W/mm was realized at 3 GHz in a power sweep using on-wafer load pull techniques.

Researchers have been extensively studying wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) with an aim to accomplish an improvement in size, weight, and power (SWaP) of power electronics beyond current devices based on silicon (Si). However, the increased operating power densities and reduced areal footprints of WBG device technologies result in significant levels of self-heating that can ultimately restrict device operation through performance degradation, reliability issues, and failure. Typically, self-heating in WBG devices is studied using a single measurement technique while operating the device under steady-state direct current (DC) measurement conditions. However, for switching applications, this steady-state thermal characterization may lose significance since high power dissipation occurs during fast transient switching events. Therefore, it can be useful to probe the WBG devices under transient measurement conditions in order to better understand the thermal dynamics of these systems in practical applications. In this work, the transient thermal dynamics of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) were studied using thermoreflectance thermal imaging and Raman thermometry. Also, the proper use of iterative pulsed measurement schemes such as thermoreflectance thermal imaging to determine the steady-state operating temperature of devices is discussed. These studies are followed with subsequent transient thermal characterization to accurately probe the self-heating from steady-state down to sub-microsecond pulse conditions using both thermoreflectance thermal imaging and Raman thermometry with temporal resolutions down to 15 ns.