Electrothermal Monte Carlo Study of Charge Confinement in GaN HFETs

Abstract

An electrothermal Monte Carlo method is applied to study various GaN heterostructures designed to improve electron confinement in the channel of the structures. It is shown that the use of a p-type GaN buffer and the inclusion of a thin InGaN back-barrier below the channel in AlGaN/GaN HFETs improve the device pinch-off characteristics, but increase the influence of self-heating. Results show that the use of an AlGaN exclusion layer at the AlGaN/GaN interface increases both the device currents and temperatures.