Understanding Imperfections in GaN HEMTs

Focus:

At the CS Mantech conference held May 2014, researchers presented findings on GaN HEMT reliability testing and material quality. This article discusses those findings, starting with shortcomings of reliability testing including potential errors in estimating device lifetimes based on accelerated testing and too-small sample sizes. Also discussed are a survey of published results for MTTF for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown on SiC and related issues such as activation energies and failure mechanisms. With regard to material quality, this article reports on a structural degradation mechanism that leads to development of electrical pits close to the surface of devices; the use of a transmission electron microscope to identify point defects in HEMT structures; and a study of electron and hole traps in n-type GaN grown on various substrates.

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Author & Publication:

Richard Stevenson, Compound Semiconductor, Compound Semiconductor, Jul 28 2014

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