Gate leakage effects and breakdown voltage in metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 80; no. 17; pp. 3207 - 3209
• Main Authors: Tan, W. S., Houston, P. A., Parbrook, P. J., Wood, D. A., Hill, G., Whitehouse, C. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 29-04-2002
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.1473701

The gate leakage behavior in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors was studied as a function of applied bias, temperature, and surface periphery. A surface hopping conduction mechanism with an activation energy of 0.21 eV is proposed for the gate–drain leakage for voltages that exceed pinchoff. The reverse breakdown voltage of the device exhibited a negative temperature coefficient of −0.11 V K−1, suggesting that a breakdown mechanism other than impact ionization, such as thermal runaway, may be responsible.