RF loss mechanisms in GaN‐based high‐electron‐mobility‐transistor on silicon: Role of an inversion channel at the AlN/Si interface

Luong, Tien Tung; Lumbantoruan, Franky; Chen, Yen Yu; Ho, Yen Teng; Weng, Yu-Ching; Lin, Yueh Chin; Chang, Shane; Chang, Edward Yi

doi:10.1002/pssa.201600944

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Such results approach the ones obtained while growing the layers at even lower temperature (750°C) with plasma assisted MBE and reaching ≈0.2 dB mm −1 at 35 GHz as well as ones published recently in Ref. . Even though the growth conditions are not detailed in this last paper, it appears that the crystal quality of AlN layers grown by MOVPE in this work is very poor with broad X‐ray diffraction (XRD) peaks.…”

Section: Reduction Of the Aln Growth Temperaturesupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Even when some Aluminum doping may explain the C–V results presented in Figure , the SIMS profiles may indicate that Aluminum diffusion alone is not likely to explain the two orders of magnitude difference in vertical resistivity shown in Figure . Nevertheless, as proposed by Luong with p‐type AlN or p‐AlGaN on thin AlN, the presence of some Aluminum doping able to mitigate the formation of the electron inversion layer evocated in Ref. could help for increasing the electrical resistivity.…”

Section: Reduction Of the Aln Growth Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Influence of AlN Growth Temperature on the Electrical Properties of Buffer Layers for GaN HEMTs on Silicon

Cordier

Comyn

Frayssinet

et al. 2017

Physica Status Solidi (a)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite the fact that a lower growth temperature is generally considered as a drawback for achieving high crystal quality, the necessity to reduce the nucleation temperature of AlN on Silicon has permitted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) to demonstrate high performance for GaN transistors operating at high frequency. Compared to Metal‐Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE), the control of the interface between the AlN nucleation layer and the substrate is easier and the reduced growth temperature allows to obtain a more electrically resistive interface while keeping good crystal quality. Moreover, it is shown that further reducing the growth temperature within the nucleation and stress mitigating layers has a noticeable impact on the lateral and vertical buffer leakage currents. At the same time the buffer of MBE grown HEMT structures exhibits low RF propagation losses (below 0.5 dB mm−1 up to 70 GHz). Also, results obtained with structures regrown by MOVPE on MBE AlN‐on‐Si templates confirm that the thermal budget is critical for the resistivity of AlN/Si. On the other hand, the insertion of a 1.5 μm thick Al0.05Ga0.95N layer within a 2 μm HEMT structure significantly improves the vertical breakdown voltage up to 740 V permitting to compare favorably with MOVPE epilayers with similar total thickness.

show abstract

Section: Reduction Of the Aln Growth Temperaturesupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Reduction Of the Aln Growth Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of AlN Growth Temperature on the Electrical Properties of Buffer Layers for GaN HEMTs on Silicon

Cordier

Comyn

Frayssinet

et al. 2017

Physica Status Solidi (a)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Not only the use of high-resistivity substrates is necessary 2 , but also the achievement of both sufficient crystal quality and electrical resistivity of AlN/Si interface is required. Different phenomena have been reported as possible origins of parasitic conductivity and propagation losses: the diffusion of dopant species into the Si substrate 3 – 5 , the formation of an inversion layer at the AlN/Si interface 6 – 9 as well as degraded crystal quality 7 , 10 . In this context, the combination of several techniques is necessary to know the composition of the interface and its electrical behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical activity at the AlN/Si Interface: identifying the main origin of propagation losses in GaN-on-Si devices at microwave frequencies

Bah

Valente

Lesecq

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

AlN nucleation layers are the basement of GaN-on-Si structures grown for light-emitting diodes, high frequency telecommunication and power switching systems. In this context, our work aims to understand the origin of propagation losses in GaN-on-Si High Electron Mobility Transistors at microwaves frequencies, which are critical for efficient devices and circuits. AlN/Si structures are grown by Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy. Acceptor dopant in-diffusion (Al and Ga) into the Si substrate is studied by Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy and is mainly located in the first 200 nm beneath the interface. In this region, an acceptor concentration of a few 10 18 cm -3 is estimated from Capacitance–Voltage (C–V) measurements while the volume hole concentration of several 10 17 cm -3 is deduced from sheet resistance. Furthermore, the combination of scanning capacitance microscopy and scanning spreading resistance microscopy enables the 2D profiling of both the p -type conductive channel and the space charge region beneath the AlN/Si interface. We demonstrate that samples grown at lower temperature exhibit a p -doped conductive channel over a shallower depth which explains lower propagation losses in comparison with those synthesized at higher temperature. Our work highlights that this p -type channel can increase the propagation losses in the high-frequency devices but also that a memory effect associated with the previous sample growths with GaN can noticeably affect the physical properties in absence of proper reactor preparation. Hence, monitoring the acceptor dopant in-diffusion beneath the AlN/Si interface is crucial for achieving efficient GaN-on-Si microwave power devices.

show abstract

“…GaN on Si device has been achieved on a high-quality GaN layer grown on a large area Si substrate (8-inch wafer) [24]. One of the main issues of fabricating RF GaN HEMT on Si is the increased RF losses due to the parasitic conduction channel introduced at the III-nitride-Si interface and lower resistivity of Si substrates [25][26][27][28]. High resistive (HR) Si substrates are often adopted to solve the issue.…”

Section: The Influence Of Different Substrates On Gan Hemt Devicementioning

confidence: 99%

Development of GaN HEMTs Fabricated on Silicon, Silicon-on-Insulator, and Engineered Substrates and the Heterogeneous Integration

Hsu

Lai

et al. 2021

Micromachines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

GaN HEMT has attracted a lot of attention in recent years owing to its wide applications from the high-frequency power amplifier to the high voltage devices used in power electronic systems. Development of GaN HEMT on Si-based substrate is currently the main focus of the industry to reduce the cost as well as to integrate GaN with Si-based components. However, the direct growth of GaN on Si has the challenge of high defect density that compromises the performance, reliability, and yield. Defects are typically nucleated at the GaN/Si heterointerface due to both lattice and thermal mismatches between GaN and Si. In this article, we will review the current status of GaN on Si in terms of epitaxy and device performances in high frequency and high-power applications. Recently, different substrate structures including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and engineered poly-AlN (QST®) are introduced to enhance the epitaxy quality by reducing the mismatches. We will discuss the development and potential benefit of these novel substrates. Moreover, SOI may provide a path to enable the integration of GaN with Si CMOS. Finally, the recent development of 3D hetero-integration technology to combine GaN technology and CMOS is also illustrated.

show abstract

RF loss mechanisms in GaN‐based high‐electron‐mobility‐transistor on silicon: Role of an inversion channel at the AlN/Si interface

Cited by 34 publications

References 23 publications

Influence of AlN Growth Temperature on the Electrical Properties of Buffer Layers for GaN HEMTs on Silicon

Influence of AlN Growth Temperature on the Electrical Properties of Buffer Layers for GaN HEMTs on Silicon

Electrical activity at the AlN/Si Interface: identifying the main origin of propagation losses in GaN-on-Si devices at microwave frequencies

Development of GaN HEMTs Fabricated on Silicon, Silicon-on-Insulator, and Engineered Substrates and the Heterogeneous Integration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About