Suppression of Dispersive Effects in AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors Using Bilayer SiN_<i>x</i> Grown by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

A bilayer SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> passivation scheme has been developed using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), which effectively suppresses the dispersive effects in AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) for microwave power operation. The bilayer LPCVD passivation is compared with in-situ SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> passivations by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and ex-situ SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> passivations by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The HEMTs were fabricated and characterized in terms of pulsed IV, transient drain current, and load pull. The devices passivated with in-situ MOCVD SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> or PECVD SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> exhibit significant current slump (~ 40% and knee-voltage walkout, while the bilayer LPCVD SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> passivated device shows negligible current slump (~6% and knee-voltage walkout. These characteristics are directly reflected in the large signal operation, where HEMTs with bilayer LPCVD SiN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> have the lowest dynamic ON-state resistance and highest output power (5.4 W/mm at 3 GHz).