Low-Frequency Noise-Based Degradation Prediction of MODFETs

Degradation prediction of AlGaN/GaN MODFET is explored based on characterization of gate and drain low- frequency noise. Heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are used for this purpose. Devices from the former category were unpassivated while those of the latter were passivated. Despite the highly variable gate noise current characteristics among unpassivated MBE devices and between MBE and MOCVD-based devices, it is demonstrated that the drain noise current characteristics of the two groups of devices have considerable resemblance. Moreover, it is shown that the drain noise current level can be used as a means for gate degradation prediction