Full-band Monte Carlo analysis of strain effects on carrier transport in GaN

Abstract

The effects of strain on the carrier transport in GaN are investigated by using a full-band Monte Carlo method combined with an empirical tight-binding method. The impacts on the carrier mobility, carrier drift velocity, and breakdown characteristics are discussed. Compressive uniaxial or tensile biaxial strain will be beneficial for achieving higher hole mobility in vertical GaN devices due to the light hole band lifted above the heavy hole band. Analysis of the breakdown phenomena indicates that strain will not degrade the breakdown characteristics in terms of its effect on the band structure.