The effects of gate length variation and trapping effects on the transient response of AlGaN/GaN HEMT's on SiC substrates

Abstract

In AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors, the surface defects and dislocations may serve as trapping centers and affect the device performance via leakage current. In this paper we report results of our investigation of the trapping characteristics of Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN HEMT using the Conductance Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (CDLTS). Two deep level electronic defects were observed labeled E1 and HL1, with activation energies Ea1 = 1.36 eV and Ea2 = 0.63 eV. The hole-trap HL1 is characterized for the first time in our studies. We identified the characteristics of the traps at the AlGaN/GaN interface adjoining the channel and the surface along the ungated region between the gate and the drain, as well as the effects of the surface traps. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.