The effects of source field plates on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor reliability under off-state stress conditions were investigated using step-stress cycling. The source field plate enhanced the drain breakdown voltage from 55 to 155 V and the critical voltage for off-state gate stress from 40 to 65 V, relative to devices without the field plate. Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the degradation of the gate contacts. The presence of pits that appeared on both source and drain sides of the gate edges was attributed to the inverse piezoelectric effect. In addition, a thin oxide layer was observed between the Ni gate contact and the AlGaN layer, and both Ni and oxygen had diffused into the AlGaN layer. After step-stress cycling, additional threading dislocations were observed.
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Research Article|
April 18 2011
Effect of source field plate on the characteristics of off-state, step-stressed AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors
Lu Liu;
Lu Liu
Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of Florida
, Gainesville, Florida 32611
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Tsung Sheng Kang;
Tsung Sheng Kang
Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of Florida
, Gainesville, Florida 32611
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David A. Cullen;
David A. Cullen
a)
Department of Physics,
Arizona State University
, Tempe, Arizona 85287
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Lin Zhou;
Lin Zhou
Department of Physics,
Arizona State University
, Tempe, Arizona 85287
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Jinhyung Kim;
Jinhyung Kim
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Dankook University
, Yongin 448-701, Korea
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Chih-Yang Chang;
Chih-Yang Chang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
University of Florida
, Gainesville, Florida 32611
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Erica A. Douglas;
Erica A. Douglas
Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
University of Florida
, Gainesville, Florida 32611
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Soohwan Jang;
Soohwan Jang
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Dankook University
, Yongin 448-701, Korea
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David. J. Smith;
David. J. Smith
Department of Physics,
Arizona State University
, Tempe, Arizona 85287
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S. J. Pearton;
S. J. Pearton
Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
University of Florida
, Gainesville, Florida 32611
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Wayne J. Johnson;
Wayne J. Johnson
Nitronex Corporation
, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606
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a)
Present address: Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
b)
Electronic mail: fren@che.ufl.edu
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 29, 032204 (2011)
Article history
Received:
December 03 2010
Accepted:
March 09 2011
Citation
Lu Liu, Tsung Sheng Kang, David A. Cullen, Lin Zhou, Jinhyung Kim, Chih-Yang Chang, Erica A. Douglas, Soohwan Jang, David. J. Smith, S. J. Pearton, Wayne J. Johnson, Fan Ren; Effect of source field plate on the characteristics of off-state, step-stressed AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1 May 2011; 29 (3): 032204. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.3581078
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