1.4-kV Breakdown Voltage for AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors on Silicon Substrate

In this letter, we present the device characteristics of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on 4-in Si using various buffer thicknesses (T Buf ). The transmission electron microscopic image confirms a low dislocation density (9.7 × 10 7 cm -2 ) for our epilayers grown using thick buffer layers. An inc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE electron device letters Vol. 33; no. 10; pp. 1375 - 1377
Main Authors Selvaraj, S. L., Watanabe, A., Wakejima, A., Egawa, T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY IEEE 01.10.2012
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Subjects
AlGaN/GaN
Aluminum gallium nitride
Applied sciences
breakdown voltage
Buffer layers
Compound structure devices
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
figure of merit
Gallium nitride
HEMTs
high electron mobility transistor
mobility
MODFETs
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Silicon
specific-on-resistance
Substrates
Transistors
Ternary compound
Buffer layer
Binary compound
mobility
Aluminium nitride
Buffer system
Gallium nitride
III-V compound
AlGaN/GaN
Dislocation density
Crystalline material
High electron mobility transistor
Thick film
Sheet resistivity
Disruptive voltage
breakdown voltage
specific-on-resistance
Silicon
Figure of merit
Heterostructures
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Summary:In this letter, we present the device characteristics of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on 4-in Si using various buffer thicknesses (T Buf ). The transmission electron microscopic image confirms a low dislocation density (9.7 × 10 7 cm -2 ) for our epilayers grown using thick buffer layers. An increase in mobility and a decrease in sheet resistance of these samples were observed owing to improved crystal quality for GaN on thick buffer. High electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) tested for three-terminal off breakdown voltage (3TBV ) show signs of breakdown voltage saturation for gate-drain length (L gd ) exceeding 15 μm. However, an increase in T Buf causes a drastic increase in 3TBV , and a high 3TBV of 1.4 kV was observed with a specific on-resistance of 9.6 mΩ · cm 2 . A figure of merit (FOM = BV 2 /R on ) of 2.6 × 10 8 V 2 · Ω -1 · cm -2 was observed for our devices, which is the highest for an AlGaN/GaN HEMT grown on Si.
ISSN:0741-3106
1558-0563
DOI:10.1109/LED.2012.2207367