The 1.6-kV AlGaN/GaN HFETs

Author

Tipirneni, N. ; Koudymov, A. ; Adivarahan, V. ; Yang, J. ; Simin, G. ; Khan, M.Asif

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., South Carolina Univ., Columbia, SC

Volume

27

Issue

9

fYear

2006

Firstpage

716

Lastpage

718

Abstract

The breakdown voltages in unpassivated nonfield-plated AlGaN/GaN HFETs on sapphire substrates were studied. These studies reveal that the breakdown is limited by the surface flashover rather than by the AlGaN/GaN channel. After elimination of the surface flashover in air, the breakdown voltage scaled linearly with the gate-drain spacing reaching 1.6 kV at 20 mum. The corresponding static ON-resistance was as low as 3.4 mOmegamiddotcm². This translates to a power device figure-of-merit V_BR ²/R_ON=7.5times10⁸ V²middotOmega^-1 cm^-2, which, to date, is among the best reported values for an AlGaN/GaN HFET

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; flashover; gallium compounds; power HEMT; sapphire; semiconductor device breakdown; wide band gap semiconductors; 1.6 kV; 20 micron; AlGaN-GaN channel; AlGaN-GaN-Al₂O₃; breakdown voltage; gate-drain spacing reaching; heterostructure field effect transistor; high-electron mobility transistor; high-voltage power device; nonfield-plated HFET; sapphire substrates; surface flashover; unpassivated HFET; Aluminum gallium nitride; Breakdown voltage; Contact resistance; Electric breakdown; Electron mobility; Flashover; Gallium nitride; HEMTs; MODFETs; Silicon carbide; AlGaN/GaN HFET; breakdown voltage; high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT); high-voltage power device; surface flashover;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LED.2006.881084

Filename

1683856