Increasing Threshold Voltage and Reducing Leakage of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using Dual-layer SiN X Stressors
Abstract
In this work, AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with dual-layer SiN x stressors (composed of a low-stress layer and a high-stress layer) were investigated. The low-stress padding layer solved the surface damage problem which was caused during the deposition of the high-stress SiN x and provided a good passivated interface. The HEMTs with the dual-layer stressors showed a 1 V increase in the threshold voltage (V th) with comparable DC and RF amplification performance to the baseline devices. Moreover, the off-current (I off) was shown to be reduced by one to three orders of magnitude in the strained devices. The reduction in the off-currents was a result of the lower electric field in AlGaN, which suppressed the gate injection current. These improvements using the dual-layer stressor scheme supports strain engineering as an effective approach in the pursuit of the normally-off operation of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.
Recommended Citation
W. C. Cheng and M. He and S. Lei and L. Wang and J. Wu and F. Zeng and Q. Hu and Q. Wang and G. M. Xia and H. Yu and M. Chan and F. Zhao, "Increasing Threshold Voltage and Reducing Leakage of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using Dual-layer SiN X Stressors," Semiconductor Science and Technology, vol. 35, no. 4, article no. 045010, IOP Publishing, Apr 2020.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6641/ab73ea
Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
gallium nitride (GaN); gate leakage; High electron mobility transistor (HEMT); strain engineering, threshold voltage
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1361-6641; 0268-1242
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 IOP Publishing, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Apr 2020
