Study on Neutron Irradiation-Induced Structural Defects of GaN-Based Heterostructures

Gu, Weihua; Xu, Xiaogeng; Lin, Zhang; Gao, Zhiyuan; Hu, Xiaochuan; Zhang, Zan

doi:10.3390/cryst8050198

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Where, A* is the Richardson's constant, i.e., A* = 4πqk 2 m*/h 3 , K is Boltzmann's constant, A is the Schottky area, I s is saturation current, T is the temperature. According to Equation (10), the Φ B of the device before irradiation is equal to 0.61 eV. While irradiated with the fluence of 4.5 × 10 13 and 6.0 × 10 13 cm −2 , the Φ B will change to 0.67 and 0.52 eV, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 9 ] Therefore, it is a better candidate for aerospace and other radiation environment applications. [ 10 ] In these applications (e.g., satellite communication systems, nuclear industry, and military defense), devices are usually subjected to both electromagnetic and particles radiation, including electrons, heavy ions, protons, neutrons, and γ‐rays. [ 11 ] Thus, it is very necessary to explore the reliability of GaN‐based devices in these radiation environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low‐Fluence Neutron Irradiation Effects on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Cui

Zhang

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Technologies

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great potential to be used in the field of high-frequency and high-power systems. [1,2] That is mainly attributed to their excellent physical and electrical properties, including polarization effect induced high 2D electron gas (2DEG) density (1 × 10 13 -1 × 10 14 cm −2 ), relatively high 2DEG mobility (1800-2200 cm 2 (V s) −1 ), high breakdown voltage (3.3 MV cm −1 ), large bandgap (3.4 eV), and high thermal and chemical stabilities. [3] 2DEG, as the key factor affecting and regulating the performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, is mainly formed by large conduction band offset between AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions, and the strong polarization electric field caused by spontaneous polarization and piezoelectric effect. [4,5] In practical applications, the actual parameters of 2DEG concentration and mobility directly affect the output and RF performance of HEMTs, such as the maximum saturated output current density (I ds,max ), threshold voltage (V th ), transconductance values (g m ), maximum frequency (f max ), and cut-off frequency (f T ), etc. Additionally, the electron traps and defects that exist in the devices would also affect the 2DEG in the channel and eventually limit device performance. [6] Due to their excellent performance and stability, AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have been widely used not only in consumer electronics AlGaN/GaN-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are ideal candidates for power electronics in consumer, industrial, and space applications. Attributed to their excellent performance in electrical output and chemical stability, AlGaN/GaN HEMTs enable tolerant neutron irradiation in harsh environments. Different from high-fluence irradiation-induced device failure, the investigation of low-fluence neutron irradiation is of great significance to understand the early damage mechanism of HEMTs. Here, the modulated electrical properties are presented of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under low-fluence neutron irradiations of 4.5 × 10 13 and 6.0 × 10 13 cm −2 . After irradiation, the electrical characteristics of the samples are carefully measured, the output performance of different irradiated devices shows a similar change trend, i.e., almost no changes or only decreased slightly (≤14%) near the knee voltage. For leakage current, the samples irradiated with different fluences show different characteristics, including a slight decrease with the fluence of 4.5 × 10 13 cm −2 , and a slight increase with the fluence of 6.0 × 10 13 cm −2 . To further investigate the internal mechanisms, the performance changes are also simulated of the device by using Crosslight software. According to the measurements, it is concluded that the low-fluence neutron irradiation will initially affect the 2DEG mobility and the surface states of the HEMTs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low‐Fluence Neutron Irradiation Effects on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Cui

Zhang

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Technologies

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“…The progress of the power electronics industry has been contingent on the level of progress in the semiconductor power device industry, otherwise known as the power electronic device industry and this particularly on the advancements in power electronic switches [ 8 ]. The power electronic switch industry has grown and improved drastically over the years and is now in a transitional phase from the more common silicon semiconductor technologies to a totally new phase of wide band gap (WBG) technologies [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. This new phase is characterized by an improvement in the various characteristics and manufacturing techniques already in place for power electronic switches [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of Power Electronic Switches: A Summary of the Past, State-of-the-Art and Illumination of the Future

Jiya

Gouws

2020

Micromachines

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As the need for green and effective utilization of energy continues to grow, the advancements in the energy and power electronics industry are constantly driven by this need, as both industries are intertwined for obvious reasons. The developments in the power electronics industry has over the years hinged on the progress of the semiconductor device industry. The semiconductor device industry could be said to be on the edge of a turn into a new era, a paradigm shift from the conventional silicon devices to the wide band gap semiconductor technologies. While a lot of work is being done in research and manufacturing sectors, it is important to look back at the past, evaluate the current progress and look at the prospects of the future of this industry. This paper is unique at this time because it seeks to give a good summary of the past, the state-of-the-art, and highlight the opportunities for future improvements. A more or less ‘forgotten’ power electronic switch, the four-quadrant switch, is highlighted as an opportunity waiting to be exploited as this switch presents a potential for achieving an ideal switch. Figures of merit for comparing semiconductor materials and devices are also presented in this review.

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“…AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) along with SiC transistors and diodes have become the backbone of power management and RF applications for extraterrestrial applications due to their wide bandgap, high critical electric field, low switching loss, and intrinsic radiation hardness. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Another key application is the insertion of these types of devices into instrumentation for nuclear fission and fusion reactors. The still-under-construction International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is expected to produce neutron radiation with energies in the range of 2-14 MeV and fluences of up to 10 14 cm −2 per second.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous previous works have investigated the effects of similar neutron fluences on GaN HEMT devices. 9,10,[12][13][14][15] Primary effects from neutron irradiation are significant decreases in the 2D electron gas (2DEG) mobility and a positive shift in the threshold voltage. Polyakov et al used low-temperature C-V to find that the density of deep acceptor states within the barrier layer increased by 40% in a AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure, leading to an expected significant positive shift in the threshold voltage (V th ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutron Irradiation of AlGaN Polarization Doped Field Effect Transistors

Carey

Ren

Sedlack

et al. 2020

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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AlGaN polarization doped field effect transistors (POLFETs) were irradiated with neutrons at an average energy of 4.5 MeV and doses of 5 × 1010 n/cm−2 and 5 × 1011 n/cm−2. Only 1% and 3% reduction in DC current was noted at these fluences, respectively. Drain and gate leakage current was only found to have degraded at 5 × 1011 n/cm−2, lower fluences producing nominal changes. 100 kHz operation demonstrated near ideal performance prior to irradiation, and only slight degradation after for most stringent duty cycles and highest gate voltages used in this study.

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Study on Neutron Irradiation-Induced Structural Defects of GaN-Based Heterostructures

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

Low‐Fluence Neutron Irradiation Effects on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Low‐Fluence Neutron Irradiation Effects on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Overview of Power Electronic Switches: A Summary of the Past, State-of-the-Art and Illumination of the Future

Neutron Irradiation of AlGaN Polarization Doped Field Effect Transistors

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