Simulation Research on Single Event Burnout Performances of p-GaN Gate HEMTs With 2DEG Al_<i>x</i>Ga_1-<i>x</i>N Channel

Abstract

In this article, the single event burnout (SEB) performances for 2DEG Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>x</i></sub> <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{Ga}_{{1}-{x}}\text{N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> channel p-GaN gate high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been investigated comprehensively to reveal the failure mechanisms and broaden applications in harsh environments. As Al composition <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${x}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> increases from 0.0 to 0.4, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {BR}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> increases from 500 to 730 V, and the corresponding SEB voltage <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {SEB}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at linear energy transfer (LET) = 10 pC/ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> increases from 300 to 450 V. Possible mechanisms of Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>x</i></sub> <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{Ga}_{{1}-{x}}\text{N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> channel HEMTs from the perspective of electric field ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${E}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -field) are proposed. <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${E}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -field near source and drain side after radiation would have a high peak <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${E}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -field and that of p-GaN layer exceeds 3.3 MV/cm of critical <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${E}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -field for GaN material, causing SEB to occur (LET = 10 pC/ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ). When SEB occurs in HEMTs, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${E}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -field would increase rapidly and cannot be recovered. A new phenomenon has been first discovered when SEB occurs in Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>x</i></sub> <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{Ga}_{{1}-{x}}\text{N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> channel HEMTs with p-GaN gate ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${x} = {0.0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> –0.4, step = 0.1). In addition to the back-channel effect, an excess of holes would be left in the buffer layer after electrons flow toward the drain. It allows the injection of an excess of holes in the buffer layer into the gate with low potential, resulting in a sharp increase in <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text {G}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> . Simulation results indicate that AlGaN channel HEMTs have great advantages in SEB performances compared with the traditional GaN channel HEMTs.