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Chang SJ, Kim DS, Kim TW, Bae Y, Jung HW, Choi IG, Noh YS, Lee SH, Kim SI, Ahn HK, Kang DM, Lim JW. Mechanisms of the Device Property Alteration Generated by the Proton Irradiation in GaN-Based MIS-HEMTs Using Extremely Thin Gate Insulator. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 13:898. [PMID: 36903774 PMCID: PMC10005350 DOI: 10.3390/nano13050898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Recently, we reported that device performance degradation mechanisms, which are generated by the γ-ray irradiation in GaN-based metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs), use extremely thin gate insulators. When the γ-ray was radiated, the total ionizing dose (TID) effects were generated and the device performance deteriorated. In this work, we investigated the device property alteration and its mechanisms, which were caused by the proton irradiation in GaN-based MIS-HEMTs for the 5 nm-thick Si3N4 and HfO2 gate insulator. The device property, such as threshold voltage, drain current, and transconductance varied by the proton irradiation. When the 5 nm-thick HfO2 layer was employed for the gate insulator, the threshold voltage shift was larger than that of the 5 nm-thick Si3N4 gate insulator, despite the HfO2 gate insulator exhibiting better radiation resistance compared to the Si3N4 gate insulator. On the other hand, the drain current and transconductance degradation were less for the 5 nm-thick HfO2 gate insulator. Unlike the γ-ray irradiation, our systematic research included pulse-mode stress measurements and carrier mobility extraction and revealed that the TID and displacement damage (DD) effects were simultaneously generated by the proton irradiation in GaN-based MIS-HEMTs. The degree of the device property alteration was determined by the competition or superposition of the TID and DD effects for the threshold voltage shift and drain current and transconductance deterioration, respectively. The device property alteration was diminished due to the reduction of the linear energy transfer with increasing irradiated proton energy. We also studied the frequency performance degradation that corresponded to the irradiated proton energy in GaN-based MIS-HEMTs using an extremely thin gate insulator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Jae Chang
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong-Seok Kim
- Korea Multi-Purpose Accelerator Complex, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Gyungju 38180, Republic of Korea
| | - Tae-Woo Kim
- Department of Electrical/Electronic, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Republic of Korea
| | - Youngho Bae
- Department of IT Convergence, Uiduk University, Gyeongju 38004, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun-Wook Jung
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Il-Gyu Choi
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Youn-Sub Noh
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang-Heung Lee
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Seong-Il Kim
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Ho-Kyun Ahn
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong-Min Kang
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
| | - Jong-Won Lim
- ICT Components & Material Research Laboratory, Photonic/Wireless Convergence Research Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
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Haziq M, Falina S, Manaf AA, Kawarada H, Syamsul M. Challenges and Opportunities for High-Power and High-Frequency AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistor (HEMT) Applications: A Review. MICROMACHINES 2022; 13:2133. [PMID: 36557432 PMCID: PMC9785762 DOI: 10.3390/mi13122133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor (GaN HEMT) devices has the potential to deliver high power and high frequency with performances surpassing mainstream silicon and other advanced semiconductor field-effect transistor (FET) technologies. Nevertheless, HEMT devices suffer from certain parasitic and reliability concerns that limit their performance. This paper aims to review the latest experimental evidence regarding HEMT technologies on the parasitic issues that affect aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN)/GaN HEMTs. The first part of this review provides a brief introduction to AlGaN/GaN HEMT technologies, and the second part outlines the challenges often faced during HEMT fabrication, such as normally-on operation, self-heating effects, current collapse, peak electric field distribution, gate leakages, and high ohmic contact resistance. Finally, a number of effective approaches to enhancing the device's performance are addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhaimin Haziq
- Institute of Nano Optoelectronics Research and Technology (INOR), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Sains@USM, Bayan Lepas 11900, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Shaili Falina
- Collaborative Microelectronic Design Excellence Center (CEDEC), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Sains@USM, Bayan Lepas 11900, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
| | - Asrulnizam Abd Manaf
- Collaborative Microelectronic Design Excellence Center (CEDEC), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Sains@USM, Bayan Lepas 11900, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Hiroshi Kawarada
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
- The Kagami Memorial Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, Waseda University, 2-8-26 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-0051, Japan
| | - Mohd Syamsul
- Institute of Nano Optoelectronics Research and Technology (INOR), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Sains@USM, Bayan Lepas 11900, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
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Effects of Proton Irradiation on the Current Characteristics of SiN-Passivated AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs Using a TMAH-Based Surface Pre-Treatment. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:mi12080864. [PMID: 34442485 PMCID: PMC8401769 DOI: 10.3390/mi12080864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated the combined effects of proton irradiation and surface pre-treatment on the current characteristics of Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility-transistors (MIS-HEMTs) to evaluate the radiation hardness involved with the Silicon Nitride (SiN) passivation/GaN cap interface. The impact of proton irradiation on the static and dynamic current characteristics of devices with and without pre-treatment were analyzed with 5 MeV proton irradiation. In terms of transfer characteristics before and after the proton irradiation, the drain current of the devices without and with pre-treatment were reduced by an increase in sheet and contact resistances after the proton irradiation. In contrast with the static current characteristics, the gate-lag characteristics of the device with pre-treatment were significantly degenerated. In the device with pre-treatment, the hydrogen passivation for surface states of the GaN cap was formed by the pre-treatment and SiN deposition processes. Since the hydrogen passivation was removed by the proton irradiation, the newly created vacancies resulted in the degeneration of gate-lag characteristics. After nine months in an ambient atmosphere, the gate-lag characteristics of the device with pre-treatment were recovered because of the hydrogen recombination. These results demonstrated that the radiation hardness of MIS-HEMTs was affected by the SiN/GaN interface quality.
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