A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ac81a6

中国物理B ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (11): 117105-117105.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ac81a6

A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

Zhihong Chen(陈治宏)¹, Minhan Mi(宓珉瀚)^1,3,†, Jielong Liu(刘捷龙)², Pengfei Wang(王鹏飞)¹, Yuwei Zhou(周雨威)², Meng Zhang(张濛)¹, Xiaohua Ma(马晓华)¹, and Yue Hao(郝跃)¹

1 Key Laboratory of Wide Band-Gap Semiconductor Materials and Devices, School of Microelectronics, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China;
2 School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China;
3 Guangzhou Institute of Technology, Xidian University, Guangzhou 510555, China

收稿日期:2022-05-31 修回日期:2022-07-11 接受日期:2022-07-18 出版日期:2022-10-17 发布日期:2022-10-28
通讯作者: Minhan Mi E-mail:miminhan@qq.com
基金资助:
Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFB1804902), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61904135, 62090014, and 11690042), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Innovation Fund of Xidian University (Grant No. YJS2213), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2018M640957 and BX20200262), the Key Research and Development Program of Guangzhou (Grant No. 202103020002), Wuhu and Xidian University Special Fund for Industry–UniversityResearch Cooperation (Grant No. XWYCXY-012021014-HT), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. XJS221110).

A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

1 Key Laboratory of Wide Band-Gap Semiconductor Materials and Devices, School of Microelectronics, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China;
2 School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China;
3 Guangzhou Institute of Technology, Xidian University, Guangzhou 510555, China

Received:2022-05-31 Revised:2022-07-11 Accepted:2022-07-18 Online:2022-10-17 Published:2022-10-28
Contact: Minhan Mi E-mail:miminhan@qq.com
Supported by:
Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFB1804902), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61904135, 62090014, and 11690042), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Innovation Fund of Xidian University (Grant No. YJS2213), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2018M640957 and BX20200262), the Key Research and Development Program of Guangzhou (Grant No. 202103020002), Wuhu and Xidian University Special Fund for Industry–UniversityResearch Cooperation (Grant No. XWYCXY-012021014-HT), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. XJS221110).

摘要/Abstract

摘要： We demonstrate a novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation technology for AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with thin-barrier to minimize surface leakage current to enhance the breakdown voltage. The bilayer SiN with 20-nm Si-rich SiN and 100-nm Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) after removing 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer. Compared to traditional Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ passivation for thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation can suppress the current collapse ratio from 18.54% to 8.40%. However, Si-rich bilayer passivation leads to a severer surface leakage current, so that it has a low breakdown voltage. The 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer can protect the surface of HEMTs in fabrication process and decrease Ga-O bonds, resulting in a lower surface leakage current. In contrast to passivating Si-rich SiN directly, devices with the novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation increase the breakdown voltage from 29 V to 85 V. Radio frequency (RF) small-signal characteristics show that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation leads to $f_{\rm T}/f_{\rm max}$ of 68 GHz/102 GHz. At 30 GHz and $V_{\rm DS} = 20$ V, devices achieve a maximum $P_{\rm out}$ of 5.2 W/mm and a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 42.2%. These results indicate that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation can have potential applications in the millimeter-wave range.

关键词: AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, thin-barrier, Si-rich SiN passivation, current collapse, surface leakage current, millimeter-wave

Abstract: We demonstrate a novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation technology for AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with thin-barrier to minimize surface leakage current to enhance the breakdown voltage. The bilayer SiN with 20-nm Si-rich SiN and 100-nm Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) after removing 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer. Compared to traditional Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ passivation for thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation can suppress the current collapse ratio from 18.54% to 8.40%. However, Si-rich bilayer passivation leads to a severer surface leakage current, so that it has a low breakdown voltage. The 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer can protect the surface of HEMTs in fabrication process and decrease Ga-O bonds, resulting in a lower surface leakage current. In contrast to passivating Si-rich SiN directly, devices with the novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation increase the breakdown voltage from 29 V to 85 V. Radio frequency (RF) small-signal characteristics show that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation leads to $f_{\rm T}/f_{\rm max}$ of 68 GHz/102 GHz. At 30 GHz and $V_{\rm DS} = 20$ V, devices achieve a maximum $P_{\rm out}$ of 5.2 W/mm and a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 42.2%. These results indicate that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation can have potential applications in the millimeter-wave range.

Key words: AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, thin-barrier, Si-rich SiN passivation, current collapse, surface leakage current, millimeter-wave

中图分类号: (III-V semiconductors)

71.55.Eq

73.20.-r (Electron states at surfaces and interfaces) 73.50.-h (Electronic transport phenomena in thin films)

Zhihong Chen(陈治宏), Minhan Mi(宓珉瀚), Jielong Liu(刘捷龙), Pengfei Wang(王鹏飞), Yuwei Zhou(周雨威), Meng Zhang(张濛), Xiaohua Ma(马晓华), and Yue Hao(郝跃). A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications[J]. 中国物理B, 2022, 31(11): 117105-117105.

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A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

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