Improvement of Single Event Transient Effects for a Novel AlGaN/GaN High Electron-Mobility Transistor with a P-GaN Buried Layer and a Locally Doped Barrier Layer

• Published in: Micromachines (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 9; p. 1158
• Main Authors: Xiong, Juan, Xie, Xintong, Wei, Jie, Sun, Shuxiang, Luo, Xiaorong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16-09-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Aluminum gallium nitrides; Barrier layers; Buffer layers; Buried structures; Electric fields; Electrons; Gallium nitrides; GaN HEMT; High electron mobility transistors; Liquors; locally doped barrier layer; P-GaN buried layer; Radiation; Semiconductor devices; Simulation; single event transient (SET) effect; Transconductance; single event transient (SET) effect; GaN HEMT; locally doped barrier layer; P-GaN buried layer
• ISSN: 2072-666X; 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi15091158

In this paper, a novel AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure with a P-GaN buried layer in the buffer layer and a locally doped barrier layer under the gate (PN-HEMT) is proposed to enhance its resistance to single event transient (SET) effects while also overcoming the degradation of other characteristics. The device operation mechanism and characteristics are investigated by TCAD simulation. The results show that the peak electric field and impact ionization at the gate edges are reduced in the PN-HEMT due to the introduced P-GaN buried layer in the buffer layer. This leads to a decrease in the peak drain current (
) induced by the SET effect and an improvement in the breakdown voltage (BV). Additionally, the locally doped barrier layer provides extra electrons to the channel, resulting in higher saturated drain current (
) and maximum transconductance (
). The
of the PN-HEMT (1.37 A/mm) is 71.8% lower than that of the conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMT (C-HEMT) (4.85 A/mm) at 0.6 pC/µm. Simultaneously,
and BV are increased by 21.2% and 63.9%, respectively. Therefore, the PN-HEMT enhances the hardened SET effect of the device without sacrificing other key characteristics of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT.