Title :
Off-state breakdown effects on gate leakage current in power pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMTs
Author :
Chou, Y.C. ; Li, G.P. ; Chen, Y.C. ; Wu, C.S. ; Yu, K.K. ; Midford, T.A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Irvine, CA, USA
Abstract :
The effects of off-state breakdown on characteristics of power AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic HEMTs (PHEMTs) are investigated in detail. While the gate leakage current is substantially decreased after breakdown stress, no obvious changes in drain-to-source current and transconductance are observed. Prior to breakdown stress, gate leakage current shows a nearly ideal 1/f noise characteristic with an Ig/sup 2/ dependence, suggesting a surface generation-recombination current from the interface of the passivation layer. After stress, the gate current noise can be drastically reduced. The results suggest an alternative for alleviating the gate leakage current in PHEMTs.
Keywords :
1/f noise; III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; electric breakdown; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; leakage currents; power HEMT; semiconductor device noise; 1/f noise characteristics; AlGaAs-InGaAs; AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT; PHEMT; drain-to-source current; gate current noise; gate leakage current; offstate breakdown; passivation layer interface; power pseudomorphic HEMT; surface generation-recombination current; transconductance; Character generation; Electric breakdown; Indium gallium arsenide; Leakage current; Noise generators; Noise reduction; PHEMTs; Passivation; Stress; Transconductance;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
