Hydrogen effects on AlGaN/GaN MISFET with LPCVD-SiNx gate dielectric

Abstract

In this work, the effects of hydrogen on an AlGaN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor (MISFET) with SiNx gate dielectric were investigated. It is found that after hydrogen exposure, (1) the AlGaN/GaN MISFET exhibits better DC performance with larger maximum transconductance, (2) the gate lag phenomenon is effectively suppressed and (3) the 1/f noise performance is improved with lower noise magnitude. These results are different from previous observations in other III-V semiconductor devices. Based on the theoretical analysis by space charge limited current and low-frequency noise models, we propose that the hydrogen treatment induces hydrogen incorporation into SiNx, which could passivate the defect centers. These findings demonstrate the high hydrogen tolerance of AlGaN/GaN MISFETs.

Effect of High-Temperature Storage on Electrical Characteristics of Hydrogen-Treated AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors

“…Then, GaN-based hydrogen sensors were manufactured and demonstrated favorable hydrogen sensitivity [9][10][11]. In recent years, the impact of hydrogen on the reliability of GaN devices has become a new concern [12][13][14][15]. The hydrogen in GaN devices mainly comes from the process of material preparation and package assembly.…”

Effect of hydrogen poisoning on p-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

“…Recently, the internal hydrogen atmosphere in hermetic packaging has emerged as a crucial consideration in the aerospace field, for the reason that hydrogen may outgas from encapsulating materials, forming a H 2contaning atmosphere, and trapped inside sealed packages [16,17]. The 'hydrogen poisoning' has long been known to affect the characteristics and reliability of compound semiconductor devices [17][18][19][20][21], especially for application scenarios in space missions. Previous works have reported the influence of the hydrogen atmosphere on normally-on AlGaN/GaN Schottky HEMTs and AlGaN/GaN MISHEMTs [17,19,20].…”

“…The 'hydrogen poisoning' has long been known to affect the characteristics and reliability of compound semiconductor devices [17][18][19][20][21], especially for application scenarios in space missions. Previous works have reported the influence of the hydrogen atmosphere on normally-on AlGaN/GaN Schottky HEMTs and AlGaN/GaN MISHEMTs [17,19,20]. To our knowledge, theoretical and experimental investigations of the effects on p-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have not been reported, which may be a potential concern for its application.…”