An analysis of the temperature dependence of the gate current in complementary heterojunction field-effect transistors

Author

Cunningham, Thomas J. ; Fossum, Eric R. ; Baier, Steven M.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

13

Issue

12

fYear

1992

Firstpage

645

Lastpage

647

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the gate current versus the gate voltage in complementary heterojunction field-effect transistors (CHFETs) is examined. An analysis indicates that the gate conduction is due to a combination of thermionic emission, thermionic-field emission, and conduction through a temperature-activated resistance. The thermionic-field emission is consistent with tunneling through the AlGaAs insulator. The activation energy of the resistance is consistent with the ionization energy associated with the DX center in the AlGaAs. Methods to reduce the gate current are discussed.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; insulated gate field effect transistors; tunnelling; Al/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As-In/sub 0.25/Ga/sub 0.75/As-GaAs; CHFETs; DX center; I-V characteristics; activation energy; complementary heterojunction field-effect transistors; gate conduction; gate current; gate voltage; ionization energy; temperature dependence; temperature-activated resistance; thermionic emission; thermionic-field emission; tunneling; Carrier confinement; FETs; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunctions; Indium gallium arsenide; Temperature dependence; Temperature measurement; Thermal resistance; Thermionic emission; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.192872

Filename

192872